Broadening food access is central to our work at DoorDash. Thanks to the hundreds of Feeding America network food banks, United Way and 211 organizations, Meals on Wheels America providers and other partners, we’re proud to announce that Project DASH has reached tens of thousands of households across the U.S. and Canada through over 7 million deliveries of more than 125 million meals.
Powering Food as Medicine Programs to Improve Health Outcomes
Access to healthy food changes lives and improves health outcomes. To help vulnerable populations access the food they need, Project DASH proudly partners with dozens of food as medicine programs across the U.S., including powering delivery for the Emergency Food Network (EFN) food bank’s partnership with Virginia Mason Medical Center in Washington. This month, EFN and DoorDash will celebrate the completion of over 6,000 deliveries of more than 75,000 meals in Pierce County.
In Pierce County, Washington, EFN plays an essential role in the food security system across the region. Project DASH is key to EFN’s Home Delivery Program to ensure that local families can receive deliveries of fresh fruits and vegetables, shelf-stable foods, proteins, and dairy products.
Breaking Down Barriers to Food for Seniors
According to Feeding America, nearly 7 million American seniors over the age of 60 were food insecure in 2022, and hunger is only getting worse. Mobility and transportation barriers exacerbate existing challenges for seniors without safe and reliable ways to access what they need. That’s why Project DASH is proud to partner with Meals on Wheels America and Meals on Wheels providers to make sure seniors facing food insecurity get their meals delivered right to their doors.
Since the beginning of our partnership, we’ve made more than 125,000 deliveries to seniors in over 30 states across the U.S. We work directly with local Meals on Wheels members to assist with deliveries in the face of driver shortages and to expand their capacity to serve as many seniors as possible, helping to trim or eliminate waitlists.
Delivering to Those Who Sacrificed for Our Freedom
More than 74,000 Washington, D.C. residents are experiencing hunger, roughly 10% of the city’s population. In 2022, we joined forces with D.C. Central Kitchen (DCCK) to expand their capacity and have since delivered more than 100,000 meals to seniors across DC.
Project DASH also now powers DCCK’s new effort that helps ensure food insecure and mobility challenged veterans have the food they need. Veterans are disproportionally impacted by hunger, with an estimated 1-in-5 active duty and veteran families experiencing food insecurity in 2023.
Investing in and Advocating for Our Partners
Since 2024, we’ve provided more than $1.5 million in Project DASH Impact Grants and other support helping our partners strengthen their home delivery programs - including securing more nutritious food, paying staff, increasing delivery frequency, or reaching new populations in the regions they serve.
As a member of the Alliance to End Hunger and alongside anti-hunger leaders like the National CSFP Association and Meals on Wheels America, we also support the Delivering for Rural Seniors Act in Congress, which would authorize a pilot that provides for the delivery of monthly food boxes to low-income and rural seniors.
We thank our incredible partners for helping us reach this milestone, and look forward to continuing to deliver even more meals to people experiencing food insecurity. Organizations interested in partnering with Project DASH should email [email protected].
