Food Recovery Network Offers Third Year of Funding Opportunities to Expand Food Recovery on Community and Technical College Campuses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, D.C.  — Food Recovery Network (FRN) is excited to announce the opening of applications for the third year of its Community College Food Recovery Grant Program. This initiative aims to establish and strengthen food recovery programs at community colleges across the United States, helping to combat food waste while supporting people experiencing hunger within local communities.

Community colleges play a crucial role in addressing food insecurity in their areas and serve as essential hubs for food recovery efforts. To date, the ten previous grant recipients, together, have recovered 311,853 pounds of food, often redirecting it right on their own campuses to serve students experiencing hunger. 

This year, FRN will award grants to an additional five deserving community colleges, which will also receive recognition for their innovative contributions to this critical cause. The selected institutions will receive one year of technical and financial assistance to implement robust food recovery programs, starting in Summer/Fall 2026.

“We are on the verge of initiating our third year of community college grants to reach even more campuses, recover a substantial amount of food, reduce greenhouse gases by preventing food from rotting in landfills, and help level the playing field for food justice. The impact we can make in the year ahead will be exponential, ” said Regina Harmon, CEO at FRN. “We are feeding more people faster by ensuring surplus food is distributed in a way that offers convenient access for individuals and communities experiencing food insecurity.”

Community colleges are encouraged to apply for the grant.

Applications must be submitted by May 15 2026  at midnight ET. Recipients will be notified by June 15, 2026. Financial assistance will be determined by the proposed scale and frequency of each school’s food-waste prevention program.

For additional details about the grant program and application process, please visit  www.foodrecovery.org/community-college-food-recovery-grant or contact programs@foodrecoverynetwork.org.

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Food Recovery Network (FRN) is the largest student-led movement recovering surplus food and ending hunger in the U.S. We unite 8,000+ college students, food suppliers, farmers, and local businesses across the U.S. in the fight against climate change and hunger by recovering surplus food from across the supply chain and donating it to local nonprofit organizations that feed people experiencing hunger.