RENO, Nev. (KOLO) – As the largest food pantry in northern Nevada, the St. Vincent’s Food Pantry at Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada has pioneered a food rescue and recovery program that has become a model for sister organizations nationwide.
“The absolute heart of Catholic Charities and our ability to serve so many people who are hungry is our food recovery program,” said Marie Baxter, CEO of CCNN.
In honor of Earth Day, St. Vincent’s celebrates a program that provides nearly $5 million worth of donated food and beverages annually, reducing food waste while fighting hunger in the community. The food bank is also responsible for serving nearly 3 million pounds of food in 2024.
Each year, it provides more than 300,000 food boxes to families in need, ensuring access to nutritious meals for the community’s most vulnerable populations. As the need has grown, the Pantry’s director has developed an innovative initiative to meet the demand. “We have developed relationships all over the community with different grocery stores, logistics companies, and manufacturers as a way to make sure that food does not end up in the landfills,” added Baxter.
The program started eight years ago when Carlos Carillo, the Director of the food pantry, approached a local grocer about donating surplus food. What began as a small partnership has now expanded to include more than 32 vendors, including grocery stores, restaurants, local farmers and ranchers and wholesale food distributors. These partners donate a variety of food that is still safe to consume but may have timed out due to weather, slight damage, refusal or slow sales. For instance, if one can in a case is damaged, the entire case is donated instead of being discarded. The non-perishable items are prepared for distribution.
“We are able to go out and pick up things that maybe didn’t sell that are still fresh and we are able to distribute them the same day,” said the CEO.
Drivers deliver food to over 20 neighborhood pantries in northern Nevada, Monday to Friday.
When people need food they can shop for themselves.
“They check into our system. They get a little shopping cart and then they go around,” said Carillo. “They can get their produce, meats, dairy, shelf-stable items and some other donations that we received from different vendors. They can get what they want so we know it is not going to waste.”
Neighborhood pantries open at 1 pm. You can find more information on ccsnn.org.
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