Dashing to help the community: DoorDash drives food to those in need

FRAMINGHAM — A DoorDash driver delivering food might not look like a newsworthy event. But such a sighting in Framingham may be linked to a program in which caring community members are behind the packing and distribution.

The Rev. J. Anthony Lloyd, pastor at the Greater Framingham Community Church, has noticed that families dealing with food insecurity face a crisis. Many food banks often close on Friday and don't reopen until the following Tuesday. So his church recently teamed with Framingham Public Schools and DoorDash to help fill that gap.

Since the Project DASH program launched in Framingham earlier this year, Dashers have completed about 1,000 deliveries — totaling 17,000 or so meals to families in need.

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"COVID pushed us to be more collaborative," Lloyd said. "That is one of the side effects of the COVID experience. We have a lot of folks doing a lot of good things in the community."

Project DASH, which stands for "DoorDash Acts for Sustainability and Hunger," has delivered an estimated 50 million meals since 2018. The program can step in to fill many needs, connecting food banks, pantries and hunger relief organizations and initiatives with people experiencing food insecurity, according to Tina Kennedy, the food-delivery company's government relations manager for New England.

Food insecurity has been an especially pressing problem during the pandemic. And after having spent more and more time behind their screens, people were eager for an outlet to help their community, whether that’s bringing the whole family on Friday afternoon to help out or ducking out of a work-from-home lunch to pack up food, Lloyd said.

“There’s that movement — getting out and giving back,” he said. “People have compassion for other folks.”

Every other Friday, Wegmans prepares food to be delivered to the church — enough food for about 80 families. Food is packed up by volunteers and stored overnight. On Saturday morning, DoorDash drivers arrive at about 9 a.m. to pick up deliveries and all the food is on its way to families in need by 9:15.

Wraparound care for families in need

Anthony Ortiz leads a team that works in Framingham Public Schools to ensure that families are getting all the support they need. He works with them to create a “universal care of wraparound service… starting with food as a priority, making sure that the families are receiving an adequate amount of food for their little ones and for themselves.”

The "Wraparound Program" also addresses underlying and related issues like employment, clothing and help applying for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, Ortiz said.

Ortiz, who served as a youth worker for more than 10 years, said the work is rewarding because someone can be connecting over the phone with a family in need one day and loading up food to help them the next.

“One of the qualities that I always see as important for anyone doing public service work is to approach things with empathy, compassion and care,” he said.

The program, of course, had a few hiccups starting out, Ortiz said.

The DoorDash drivers, who are not always from the area, were baffled at a pickup location at a church and confused about why a person was in their system multiple times. Now, FAQs are available to explain that each entry corresponded to a bag of food in the DoorDash system and explaining other aspects of the program that might be unfamiliar.

The church also needed a bigger refrigerator to store perishables overnight — MutualOne Bank came through to provide one. The Sudbury Foundation, the Foundation for MetroWest and Middlesex Bank also helped the program financially.

"As you can imagine, the cost of food is outrageous today," Lloyd said.

Dashers across New England

DoorDash's Kennedy said the company has been spreading the word about the help Project Dash is offering through word of mouth and connecting food banks and local organizations.

Kennedy said she was “blown away” by the work done in Framingham. But there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to how the program can serve a municipality or hunger relief organization.

"We're open to any area within the commonwealth, within New England," Kennedy said. "It really doesn't matter because the need is everywhere."

Those conversations generally start by figuring out how the company can integrate into systems that are already in place. An organization with a robust group of enthusiastic volunteers might not need as much help with deliveries, and a community with a lot of young families has different needs than a community of seniors, she said.

“Food organizations as well as their clients recognize that there is something really nice about having delivery,” Kennedy said. “For the client themselves, it kind of addresses this food insecurity for them in a way that they feel dignified — because it looks like any other DoorDash delivery when it comes to your door.”

A 'perfect storm'

Considering inflation, the possibility of another COVID-19 wave and rising energy costs, Lloyd anticipates this winter will be particularly difficult.

“What I’m seeing is a perfect storm that’s coming,” he said. “I think we as a community have to recognize this.”

Project DASH has enough funding to go through winter, and it isn’t the church’s only program. People interested in volunteering or donating can reach out to the church or to Lloyd directly, he said.

“Any church today is trying to pivot and trying to really figure out… how people are engaging their faith,” he said. “There’s a pride on their part to say, yeah, my church is on the frontline.”

Lloyd said the recipe of a “true partnership” is changing how people see each other and help each other — and transform people’s lives.

“Ultimately, we’re all coming together to support the families, which is our main priority,” Ortiz said. With Wegmans joining forces with DoorDash and the Greater Framingham Community Church, “all the pieces are coming together.”

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: DoorDash food delivery takeout Framingham