America has a major food waste problem. That’s why for the past two years Seattle Food Rescue—a small volunteer non-profit organization of mostly college students — has been biking to grocery stores around Central Seattle picking up excess consumable food and delivering the goods to food banks and community partners around the city. Now, Seattle Food Rescue is partnering with Capitol Hill Housing to bring groceries right to the doors of residents at several properties.

“In an ideal world, all the food waste would be diverted from landfills to people who need it,” said Tim Jenkins, founder of Seattle Food Rescue. “That’s where we’d like to be headed.”

Jenkins a recent graduate of the University of Colorado who moved to Seattle in 2014, got the idea for Seattle Food Rescue from his time volunteering with Boulder Food Rescue, a very robust version of his operation which boasts around one hundred bike-riding, food-rescuing volunteers.

“I really liked the food distribution model that was focused around bicycles,” said Jenkins. “So I took that model and brought it out to Seattle and I’ve been slowly but surely expanding it ever since.”

Originally, Seattle Food Rescue partnered strictly with several food banks in Seattle — the University District Food Bank and the Pike Market Food Bank in downtown to be exact –acting as a vehicle to get perishable foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, pre-made meals like sandwiches and dairy products from grocery stores to food banks to be distributed. This focus fills what Jenkins calls a nutritional gap left by local food banks, who prioritize stocking non-perishable foods like canned vegetables and meats and staple dry goods like pasta and rice. Jenkins says his organization focuses on “anything that has a short shelf-life.”

In addition, Seattle Food Rescue only partners with small and medium sized grocery stores—not to be confused with corner stores—around Central Seattle, which Jenkins says are often overlooked by food banks who would rather focus their resources on bigger retailers who can offer a high volume of goods. Regular donors to Seattle Food Rescue include Capitol Hill’s Central Co-Op on Madison, the Broadway farmers market, and the Stockbox Neighborhood Grocery on First Hill, one of the first retailers to partner with the volunteer organization.

“There’s a lot of fruits and vegetables at these locations,” said Jenkins. “They’re not really worth the time [for food banks] just because it takes resources to pick up that sort of food.”

Utilizing ten converted bicycle child carriers purchased on craigslist—which Jenkins says often get stolen because they are a “hot commodity—Seattle Food Rescue’s army of thirteen to twenty primarily student volunteers transport roughly fifty pounds of food from local grocery stores five times a week.

While the Seattle of the Amazon-era has plenty of new, budding eateries which likely throw out a large amount of edible, prepared food, state law is strict about what non-profit groups like Seattle Food Rescue can and cannot serve to recipients, ruling out most donations from restaurants. The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Donation Act, signed into law by Bill Clinton in 1996, provides general freedom from liability for non-profits like Seattle Food Rescue. But state law prohibits distribution organizations and agencies from transporting food that requires heating or cooling while in transit, a capability Seattle Food Rescue’s bicycle propelled converted child carriers don’t have.

Now, Seattle Food Rescue is moving beyond simply acting as a transportation service for food banks to direct distribution from grocery stores to residents in low-income affordable housing around central Seattle. As of several weeks ago, Seattle Food Rescue delivers directly to two different Capitol Hill Housing properties; the Haines Apartments on Olive and the Elizabeth James House on 23rd Ave E, and will be delivering to the El Nor senior housing apartments on 18th, properties which each house thirty to fifty residents.

“Rather than sending all this produce to a food bank, we’re doing the distribution directly,” said Jenkins.

“It felt like a good fit,” said Elliot Swanson, Resident Services Manager with Capitol Hill Housing. “Anything that can help our residents get healthy fresh produce and save a bit of money is a good thing in our eyes.”

Seattle Food Rescue’s bike volunteers deliver the groceries to volunteer liaisons at the various apartment complexes, who then leave the goods in communal kitchens and pantries for residents to pick through at their leisure.

“All the food disappears really quickly,” said Swanson. “It’s a matter of hours.”

Jenkins hopes to keep expanding the scope of Seattle Food Rescue by collecting food from more local grocery stores, getting more volunteers, and seeing others take up their food distribution model.

“We want to get it to the point where this type of food distribution can be easily replicated outside of Capitol Hill or outside of Seattle,” said Jenkins. “We’re trying to make it as easy as possible for businesses in the Seattle area to proceed with an alternative to garbage or compost.”

As for grocery retailers who want to donate to Seattle Food Rescue, Jenkins says they can start by assessing their own food waste and then contacting his organization by email at [email protected].

You can learn more at seattlefoodrescue.appspot.com.