Partners & Agencies

We fight hunger with local food donors and distribution agencies every day.

Together, we’re providing essential nourishment to families in need around Metro Detroit by rescuing and redistributing surplus food!

Donate surplus food and support your community.

We will gladly accept food donations from food donors like restaurants, wholesalers, greenmarkets, bakeries, caterers, hospitals and more. Our refrigerated trucks can stop by regularly or on an as-needed basis.

Food Donor Resources:

documentFood Donation Guidelines
documentFood Handling Criteria

Please note: Pick-up times cannot be guaranteed due to circumstances beyond our control such as unscheduled call-ins or traffic. In the event that we cannot make a pick-up, we will notify you to make alternate arrangements.

Liability Concerns?

There is absolutely no risk of liability in donating your surplus food. The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act,signed into law in 1996, protects good-faith food donors from civil and criminal liability should the product later cause harm to its recipient.

Specifically, the Act provides protection for food and grocery products that meet all quality and labeling standards imposed by federal, state, and local laws and regulation, even though the food may not be “readily marketable due to appearance, age, freshness, size, surplus, or other conditions.”

Join our network of distribution agencies.

We distribute food daily to more than 220 agencies of soup kitchens, emergency food pantries, senior centers, children’s homes, domestic shelters, homeless shelters, group homes, and more. In order to be considered as a new recipient agency, your organization must:

  • Provide service on at least a weekly basis and be able to take delivery of food once a week
  • Be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
  • Have a Serv-Safe Certification or equivalent
  • Have on-site refrigeration for storage of perishable foods
  • Be located in or provide service to residents of a high poverty neighborhood

Priority will be given to agencies serving vulnerable populations, including at-risk children, frail seniors, and homeless families. Other factors in the selection process include the agency’s service to high-poverty areas and frequency of service/capacity for distribution of perishable foods. Using Census 2000 data, we can identify, to the block level, the highest concentrations of poverty in the tri-county area. Priority is given to agencies serving the greatest number of families with children in these neighborhoods.

This page is intended to be a resource for all of our partner agencies. If you are not currently a partner but are interested, please submit an application and we will get back to you shortly. Please note that we are currently limited on resources to add additional partners at this time, be we are consistently improving and adding resources when we can.

As a partner agency to Forgotten Harvest, we want to first thank you for your partnership and dedication to ending hunger in our community. Without the work you and our many other partners do, Forgotten Harvest would not be able to fulfill our mission of relieving hunger in our community by rescuing nutritious surplus food.

This resource page is used to provide partner agencies with the tools and knowledge needed to achieve compliance requirements, as well as successfully manage a distribution. It details policies enforced by Forgotten Harvest, as a requirement of the USDA and Feeding America.

As a member of the Feeding America network, Forgotten Harvest is held accountable to a strict set of rules and governing procedures that ensures food is distributed safely as it pertains to state, IRS, and federal law. Accordingly, we expect each partner agency to follow the policies and procedures outlined not only in this handbook but also in the guidelines outlined in the Forgotten Harvest Agency Agreement and any of the appropriate appendices.

Agency Resource Manual

The Agency Resource Manual has in-depth coverage and information for all things necessary for our partner agencies to be successful, safe, and compliant with Forgotten Harvest and Feeding America Policies. It will guide agencies and help to build a better understanding of the standards and regulations. Forgotten Harvest will make every effort to notify partner agencies when official changes in policy or procedure have been made.

Supplemental Resource Material

Limited English Proficiency Resources:

Link 2 Feed

Food Safety:

Samsung Pro Active Tab (supplied to agencies from Forgotten Harvest by request):

Agency Capacity Grant

2023 Agency Conference Documents

Contact Information

Any general issues, questions, or concerns can be handled by your Client Service Specialist:

Robbya DuBose
Client Services Specialist
Cell Phone: 248.508.7691
rdubose@forgottenharvest.org

Dawn Sketch
Client Service Specialist
Cell Phone: 248-234-0017
dsketch@forgottenharvest.org

If your issue is urgent and you are unable to reach your Specialist:

Krista Poole
Client Services Manager
Cell Phone: 248.506.6523
kpoole@forgottenharvest.org

Kelli Kaschimer
Director, Volunteer, and Client Services
Office: 248-268-7775
kkaschimer@forgottenharvest.org

Agency Application Form

Do you have the ability to pick up from the Forgotten Harvest Warehouse Located in Oak Park? (At minimum, vehicle must be able to safely transport 1 full pallet of product)? *
Service of Interest

Please Note: We currently have a waiting list and are unable to estimate when you might be added. Our Food Program Director will reach out when space becomes available.

    We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age. For more information read the USDA Non-Discrimination Statement.

    Find Our Agency Partners

    Use the map to locate a Forgotten Harvest food distribution center near you.

    Go to map

    Get to Know Forgotten Harvest

    For almost 30 years Forgotten Harvest has worked to eliminate hunger and food waste in Metro Detroit.

    Learn more