A dim grocery aisle at first light with a red hand truck waiting at the far end

The first run · Tulsa, Oklahoma

Somebody has to be first in the aisle.

The run, frame by frame

Here is what the morning looks like.

The pickup, the cold chain, and the back door that opens when you pull up. Three stops, one truck, one driver behind the wheel.

Crates of surplus produce on pallets in a grocery stockroom at dawn

01 / Grocery surplus pickup

The aisle is empty. The pallets aren't.

Crates of food being loaded up a ramp into a refrigerated truck

02 / Refrigerated route

The truck is already cold when the doors open.

Crates of food handed through the back door of a community kitchen at first light

03 / Meal partner network

Somebody is at the back door before you knock.

Volunteer driver shifts

Take the early shift.

Shifts start before the store does and finish before most of Tulsa is at work. The route doesn't move without a driver behind it, and the slots fill in order.

Pick a morning

Claim one run when you can, or hold the same slot every week. Recurring drivers are what keeps a route predictable.

Meet at the dock

The truck comes in cold. The route sheet is on the dash, the pallets are stacked, and the hand truck is by the door.

Drive the route

Grocery surplus pickup first, then each meal partner drop in order, with one driver behind the wheel the whole way.

Hand back the keys

Empty pallets back on the truck, ramp up, done. Tomorrow the route runs again.

Driver slots open in order and are posted to the shift list first. Leave an email at the bottom of the page and the next opening comes straight to you.

What a monthly gift keeps running

01 Grocery surplus pickup Good food leaves the store on a truck instead of going to waste.
02 Refrigerated routes The cold chain holds from the loading dock to the back door.
03 Meal partner drops Crates land in kitchens that cook for the neighborhood.

The circle runs every month, so the route is already paid for before the first driver signs in.

Monthly giving circle

Make it a standing order.

Not everyone can take a wheel before dawn, and that's fine. The giving circle is a monthly gift that keeps the truck cold and the drops on schedule, month after month, so a driver only has to think about the next stop.

Join the giving circle Book a food drive

Running a team drive? Corporate food drives ride the same truck and land in the same kitchens — start one here.

The open back of an empty refrigerated truck at a kitchen, with empty pallets and a red ramp

The last stop

Pallets out. Ramp up. Tomorrow it starts again.

Take a shift Join the giving circle