DoorDash Partners With Ridgewood Feed The Frontlines Program

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — DoorDash has joined a local effort to provide hot meals to Bergen County nonprofits, offering aid to one of the most proactive food insecurity initiatives in the area.

This week, Ridgewood Feed the Frontlines, HealthBarn Foundation Inc., and the Bergen County Food Security Task Force launched a partnership with DoorDash to help deliver hot meals to food pantries across the county. The partnership will assist Feed the Frontlines' ongoing program, which will ultimately deliver 100,000 meals to nonprofits across the county by May 31, county officials said.

DoorDash has pledged to provide HealthBarn and Feed the Frontlines with a $6,500 grant. This provides earning opportunities for Dashers — the folks who deliver your DoorDash order — and allows the deliveries to continue cost-free.

The current program primarily relies on volunteers from the surrounding community. Each recipient site requires a separate volunteer driver, with some requiring up to eight drivers to ensure all the meals are delivered in a timely manner.

DoorDash’s involvement will partially alleviate the burden on existing volunteers, and will fill in the gaps when not enough volunteers are available, county officials hope. But it will also help DoorDash meet their "two-year, two million delivery goal," according to the company.

The Feed the Frontlines program was started by HealthBarn in March, and made possible by a $1 million grant from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. Read more: Ridgewood's HealthBarn Fights Food Insecurity With Grant Money

That money was distributed to nonprofits like HealthBarn, which utilize local restaurants to distribute meals to community members facing food insecurity. That's evermore important since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, when county residents relied on donated meals at numbers hardly seen before.

But distributing those meals isn't easy.

"There are a lot of moving parts to facilitate this program, especially in coordinating the delivery of the meals from our restaurants in Ridgewood to pantries and nonprofits across Bergen County," said Stacey Antine, HealthBarn Foundation director. "DoorDash’s generous contribution to help supplement our volunteer force will assist us in making sure we can guarantee direct delivery to all recipients through the end of the program in May."

The Feed the Frontlines programs attacks two pandemic-induced problems at one. By partnering with Ridgewood restaurants to prepare meals, they support an industry hit hard by the pandemic while securing meals for those facing food insecurity, which has proved to be a persistent issue.

"Food insecurity is still on the rise in Bergen County, and as many families continue to rely on food pantries, meal programs like this one provide the much-needed relief to both the pantries and the families in need," said Bergen County Commissioners Vice Chairwoman Tracy Silna Zur.

"DoorDash has recognized the significance of the food insecurity crisis we are facing, and has stepped up as a corporate partner to support our neighbors in need in Bergen County."

Keep up to date with what's happening in your community by subscribing to your local Patch newsletter here.