Food Donors

Feeding America, The Nation's Food Bank Network

CFS is a member of Feeding America , The Nation's Food Bank Network , a network of 200 regional food banks across the United States. Through them, we receive food from corporate donors in the food industry, like Kraft and Kelloggs. We also receive truckloads of produce, that we share with the other food banks in the state. We receive about 20% of our product from this source.

Local Food Donors

Every year, millions of pounds of food and grocery items go to waste right here in Colorado. But what can the grocery industry do when the wrong vegetables are in the mix, milk is short dated, or the cereal box is dented? The solution is Community Food Share.

Community Food Share serves as a distribution channel for surplus inventories. Through a network of agencies and direct distribution, CFS provides a safe and efficient system for distribution.

· Our staff is trained in safe food handling
· Good Samaritan Act protects donors from liability. For a copy of this law, follow this link .
· Accurate and timely receipting and pick up

We can handle: short-dated perishable food, production overruns, off-specification products, mislabeled or unlabeled packages, discontinued brands, private-label brands, salvage, seasonal items, produce, and prepared and perishable foods.

To find out how you can save money, eliminate waste, and help needy families in your community, please contact our food Procurement Manager at (303) 652-3663.

We receive about 40% of our product from local sources.

Our top local donors include:

• WhiteWave Foods (Horizon Organic Dairy)
• King Soopers
• Sam's Club
• SuperTarget
• Safeway
• Munsons Farms
• Whole Foods

Purchased food

CFS periodically purchases food in bulk to supplement donated food, which may be in short supply, and thus maintain a nutritionally balanced mix of inventory. We regularly buy staples like beans & rice, spaghetti & sauce, and green beans. We purchase about 15% of our inventory. Our food purchase budget is $500,000 annually.

Many times, we can obtain produce for merely the cost of transportation (about $5000 per truckload) and packaging. Thus, when you donate dollars to CFS, your money goes further than if you had bought the food yourself and donated it, because we can obtain food very inexpensively.

Food Drives

CFS benefits from three major food drives each year;

• Let's Bag Hunger in Boulder (sponsored by the Daily Camera and Whole Foods)
• Hunger Hurts the Whole Community (sponsored by the Daily Times-Call )
• Letter Carriers' Food Drive (sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers)

It is through your contributions to these food drives that CFS obtains approximately 5% of all food, and a good portion of our non-perishable canned food. Items we need most are:

• Canned fruits
• Canned tuna & meats
• Dry cereal
• Canned meals (stew, chili)
• Peanut butter

TEFAP government commodities

CFS has been selected by the Boulder County Commissioners to distribute USDA food through the TEFAP program (The Emergency Food Assistance Program). This food is supplied by the government, and is available to low income individuals and families. Typical TEFAP products include peanut butter, dry milk, cheese, tomatoes, corn, applesauce, soup and mixed fruit. We receive about 5% of our product from this source.