Community Food Rescue| FAQ - Community Food Rescue

Frequently Asked Questions

Community Food Rescue (CFR) is the coordinated food recovery network of Montgomery County, Maryland. Our network enhances the good work that businesses, individuals, and organizations are already doing to recover and redistribute perfectly good food to people experiencing hunger.

We use innovative technology to match perfectly good food that local businesses would have thrown away, to food assistance organizations that serve people who are food insecure and may not know where their next meal will come from. Volunteer food runners transport food from donor businesses to food recipient organizations.

Who can participate in Community Food Rescue?

Montgomery County-licensed food businesses including, caterers, grocers, farmers, farmers’ markets, restaurants, and institutions
Food assistance/social service organizations that provide food to people in need of supplemental food in Montgomery County
People with vehicles, good driving records, and auto insurance who can join our volunteer food runners and transport donated food from food businesses to recipient food assistance agencies

Can I as an individual donate food?

Can businesses located outside of Montgomery County participate?

Are participants protected from liability if someone gets sick from eating donated food?

Yes! The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act established in 1996, protects businesses that donate food in good faith from being held liable should someone become sick from the food. The only exception to the law is in the case of gross negligence or intentional misconduct. Additionally, Maryland Health-General Code Ann §21-322, states, “A person [nonprofit corporation, organization, or association], shall have the immunity from liability for any act or omission that affects the nature, age, condition, or packaging of the donated food.”

Can businesses take a tax deduction when they donate food?

Yes. In 1976, Congress enacted Internal Revenue Code, Section 170e3, as an incentive so that qualified businesses, can take an enhanced tax deduction for fit and wholesome food inventory donated to qualified 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations that serve people experiencing poverty and hunger. These businesses can deduct the production costs of the donated food and as, an enhancement, half the difference between the cost and the full fair market value of food donated. The America Gives More Act 2015 includes permanent tax deductions for all food donor businesses.

How does the Community Food Rescue matching software work?

ChowMatch is an automated, online and mobile app matching system. The matches are made in real-time, based on the participants’ profiles as donors, recipients, or food runners. The matching criteria includes: types of food, quantity, proximity, timing availability, and transportation capacity. ChowMatch also aggregates metrics so that CFR network members can receive totals on their food recovery activity, helpful for non-profits reporting to funders and for donors for tax deductions.

For a small food assistance organization, what are the advantages of joining CFR and using ChowMatch?

Receive more food and new types of food to supply to community members in need by matching with new donors through the Web-based app.
Receive free food safety brochures for your clients available in six languages.
Receive free training for staff and volunteers on basic safe food handling.
Enhance your organization’s capacity to pick up donated food with CFR volunteer food runners.
Contribute to decreasing the amount of food that is wasted.
Increase your organization’s visibility by being part of CFR as the county’s designated food recovery system and receiving CFR recognition.
Contribute to the aggregated total of food recovered in Montgomery County.
Receive support and learn from your peers as part of a county-wide food recovery system
Non-profits may be eligible to receive future mini-grants to build organizational capacity to recover food (as funding is available).

FAQ