Instacart Launches Virtual Food Drive for San Francisco, Chicago

Instacart, the crowdsourced online grocery delivery service, has launched its First Annual Virtual Food Drive to benefit the San Francisco and Marin Food Banks, the Second Harvest Food Bank and the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

From Nov. 18 through Dec. 2, Instacart customers can add donations to their orders as they place them online, and 100 percent of those proceeds will be directed to their local food bank.

“Giving back to the community is a core value for Instacart,” said Instacart founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta. “Given the type of business we are in, donating to this important cause seemed like a perfect fit for us. We’re looking forward to making this an annual event in all the cities we serve.”

Instacart will provide suggested donations – for instance, a $1 donation will provide three meals for a child, and a $10 donation will provide Thanksgiving dinner for a family. Instacart has developed technology to ensure that donations are directed to the food pantries based on donor zip code, so that contributions go right to their local community.

Instacart currently offers its same-day grocery delivery service in the San Francisco and Chicago metro areas. As part of its ongoing commitment to community service, Instacart staff and personal shoppers will also dedicate personal time to the recipient food banks in 2014. Customers will be invited to participate as well.

Originally launched in San Francisco and later expanded to Chicago, Instacart has disrupted the traditional grocery delivery space with its crowdsourced labor force dubbed “Personal Shoppers” who shop for and deliver grocery orders using their own vehicles and – according to the company – can deliver orders in as little as one hour.

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