More Seniors Have Access to Food Thanks to DoorDash

A partnership between the North Texas Food Bank and DoorDash means homebound seniors have the food they need delivered right to their homes.

DoorDash may be known for its quick delivery of everything from pizza to sushi, but it’s also making thousands of other important deliveries in North Texas.

Through a partnership with the North Texas Food Bank, dashers, or DoorDash drivers, deliver Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) boxes to 1,750 seniors twice a month, providing access to food for low-income individuals who also have mobility or transportation issues that prevent them from picking up their items at a distribution site.

“My wife could not walk at all. She was on dialysis, and I use crutches,” said Samuel B. Forney. “It is a lot easier for me to get the food delivered at home because I don’t go out. I don’t shop for groceries.”

The DoorDash program started in 2020 during the pandemic when sheltering at home was essential for many seniors and was a first of its kind partnership. DoorDash initially offered the service as an in-kind donation and delivered boxes to a few hundred seniors. Thanks to a grant, the program quickly grew to include several thousand neighbors across the NTFB’s 13-county service area, and DoorDash also expanded the program to other food banks across the country.

At the NTFB, a donation from Plano Super Bowl is allowing the NTFB and DoorDash to sustain around 3,500 deliveries a month during this fiscal year.

Ensuring each box of food is dropped off on the right doorstep takes plenty of coordination, said Programs Manager Madison Messinger.

First, NTFB has to identify CSFP distribution sites that are willing to serve as pickup hubs. Volunteers are then scheduled to load boxes into DoorDash cars and Dashers are trained to meet all CSFP/Texas Department of Agriculture requirements, which includes knowing how to keep the cheese that’s distributed at the proper temperature. 

“NTFB worked closely with DoorDash, the Texas Department of Agriculture and our sites to sort out an arrangement that worked for everyone,” Madison said.

Monica Lugo and Mirna Lugo Carrasco, sisters who act as coordinators for the program, say it takes a lot of organization and communication to ensure the much-needed deliveries happen each week, but all the effort is worthwhile.

“It’s not about numbers; it’s about people,” Mirna said. Adds Monica, ““It’s essential because it’s addressing the needs of the most vulnerable.”

Samuel said everything they receive is a big help, from the potatoes, carrots, onions and rice to the powdered milk that lasts throughout the month.

“I do all the cooking here,” he said. “The food is a big help to us.”

DoorDash was recognized by the NTFB in October with a Golden Fork Award, an honor given our top supporters, and the partnership was recognized during the Texas Department of Agriculture’s MegaCon in 2022.

Kathleen Petty is the communications manager for the North Texas Food Bank.