SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Instacart, the leading grocery technology company in North America, today announced Community Carts, a new feature that reimagines traditional food drives, making it easy for consumers to donate groceries that food banks need most with the Instacart App.
Just in time for Giving Tuesday and the holiday season, Community Carts gives consumers the opportunity to participate in crowdsourced cart building for good by donating groceries to more than 100 local Feeding America member food banks across the United States, with delivery and service fees waived on every donation order.
Starting today through December 4, Instacart will match every dollar spent on Community Cart orders with a donation – up to $100,000 – to Feeding America.
To start giving, customers can simply open the Instacart App or go to www.instacart.com and tap the Community Carts banners. From there, they can select any participating food bank to support and shop as many items as they’d like from the food bank’s personalized wish list, based on which groceries are needed most for the local community.
Instacart shoppers will then deliver the items directly to the food bank according to their local donation guidelines. Whether people donate just a few cans of food or a whole cart, donations will add up quickly as customers come together nationwide between Giving Tuesday and December 31 to contribute to Community Carts.
“One of the most impactful ways Instacart can help fight nutrition insecurity is by using our technology and scale to empower the community for good,” said Asha Sharma, Chief Operating Officer at Instacart.
“We know that many people want to give food during the holidays, but may not know what their local food bank needs or how to get it to them. With the launch of Community Carts, we’re making it possible for millions of people to make food donations this holiday season with just a few taps, taking the guesswork out of how, what and where to donate. Through Community Carts, together we can make an outsized impact in communities nationwide facing hunger.”
According to the USDA, nearly 34 million people, including more than 9 million children, in the U.S. are experiencing a lack of access to nutritious food, and in the face of rising food prices, many Feeding America member food banks are reporting increased or sustained demand for food assistance.
“Over the past four years, Instacart has helped to provide millions of meals to Feeding America member food banks, and we’re proud to continue our partnership with the launch of Community Carts,” said Lauren Biedron, Vice President of Corporate Partnerships at Feeding America. “By partnering with member food banks, Instacart is unlocking innovation and scale for community giving, with food going to people who need it most this holiday season.”
Because every food bank has different needs, each Community Cart is customized to include the food they need most and reflect their operational requirements. Some of the most in demand items from food banks nationwide include canned goods, whole grains, nut butters, cooking oils, and paper products.
Once a customer has placed their food bank order, they’ll have the opportunity to share their donation via messaging or social media apps directly from Instacart — encouraging family and friends to join in and donate to a Community Cart as well.
The launch of Community Carts builds on the momentum of Instacart Health, the company’s recently launched initiative designed to deliver the ingredients for healthier living. One of the key areas of focus for Instacart Health is to increase nutrition security among communities most in need. To learn more about Instacart Health, visit www.instacart.com/company/health.
Community Carts are available now on the Instacart App for iOS and coming soon on Android. To learn more about how to #GiveFromTheCart this holiday season, please visit www.instacart.com/store/hub/community_carts.
About Instacart
Instacart, the leading grocery technology company in North America, works with grocers and retailers to transform how people shop. The company partners with more than 1,000 national, regional, and local retail banners to facilitate online shopping, delivery and pickup services from more than 75,000 stores across North America on the Instacart Marketplace. Instacart makes it possible for millions of people to get the groceries they need from the retailers they love, and for hundreds of thousands of Instacart shoppers to earn by picking, packing and delivering orders on their own flexible schedule. The Instacart Platform offers retailers a suite of enterprise-grade technology products and services to power their e-commerce experiences, fulfill orders, digitize brick-and-mortar stores, provide advertising services, and glean insights. With Instacart Ads, thousands of CPG brands – from category leaders to emerging brands – partner with the company to connect directly with consumers online, right at the point of purchase.With Instacart Health, the company is providing tools to increase nutrition security, make healthy choices easier for consumers, and expand the role that food can play in improving health outcomes. For more information, visit www.instacart.com/company, and to start shopping, visit www.instacart.com. For anyone interested in becoming an Instacart shopper, visit https://shoppers.instacart.com/.
About Feeding America
Feeding America® is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of more than 200 food banks, 21 statewide food bank associations, and over 60,000 partner agencies, food pantries and meal programs, we helped provide 6.6 billion meals to tens of millions of people in need last year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; brings attention to the social and systemic barriers that contribute to food insecurity in our nation; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
