Food Donation Guidelines
Thank you for considering a donation of food to Forgotten Harvest. We are a perishable food rescue program that collects food from a variety of food donors and distributes that food in refrigerated trucks to social service agencies. For rmore information, please call Larry Weber, Food Donor Relations Manager,at Forogtten Harvest 248-967-1500 ext. 118. For a printable version of this page, please click here.
Benefits of Food Donations:
• Convenient, no cost pick-ups
• Savings in storage, inventory, transportation and dumping costs
• Donation receipt showing weight by product category
• Tax incentive: businesses can deduct an amount equal to the cost of donated items plus 50% of the difference between cost and market value
Many reasons why companies choose to donate, including:
• Produce too big or small for supermarket standards
• Unharvested or imperfect produce
• Date Codes
• Overproduction
• Production flaws
• Mislabelled or unlabelled product – “brights” can be accepted with verification of ingredients
• Pack change or reformulations
• Cosmetic packaging damages
• Shipping errors
• Deliveries that are not accepted and cannot be returned cost-effectively
• Product samples or test market items
For Food Criteria (click here for a food donation guideline chart)
• In general, we accept perishable donations from commercial or licensed food facilities only.
• We accept dry or canned food; however to maximize use of our refrigerated trucks, we encourage donations of strictly non-perishable items to a social service agency or food drive.
Pick-up Criteria
To make the best use of our trucks:
• We will gladly accept food donations of 50 lbs or more, but a minimum of 100 lbs is preferred.
• Ideally, the food should be packed, ready and accessible for pick-up upon the driver’s arrival.
• Pick-up locations should be within the Wayne, Oakland & Macomb Tri-county area.
•Alternate arrangements may be made for donations that do not meet the above criteria - please call us to inquire.
Pick-up Arrangements
• By phone: at (248) 967-1500 - Dispatch is ext 109. While our trucks are on the road six days a week, we answer the phone during business hours: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday - Friday.
• E-mails may be directed to plane@forgottenharvest.org or dfelder@forgottenharvest.org
• Regularly scheduled pick-ups: If you know that you will have a sufficient quantity of food to donate on a regular basis, we can arrange daily, weekly or monthly pick-ups for our frequent donors.
• As needed pick-ups: Generally within 24 hours. While we may be able to make a same day pick up if called in early enough, further advance notice, if possible, is much appreciated.
• Please note: pick-up times cannot be guaranteed due to circumstances beyond our control such as unscheduled call-ins or traffic. In the event that we cannot make a pick-up, we will notify you to make alternate arrangements.
