Bring meals to the people you already serve
Shelters, outreach teams, food banks, churches and recovery programs pick up donor-funded meals from restaurant partners and hand them out, or reserve a meal for someone without a phone. It costs nothing to take part. We're starting in the greater Phoenix area, and organizations anywhere in the US can apply.
What community partners do
You reach neighbors who may not have a phone or a way to get to a restaurant. Pick up meals in bulk and hand them out, or reserve a meal for one person at a time.
Request a meal pickup order
Ask a restaurant partner for a number of meals, with a pickup time that works for both of you.
Pick the meals up
Show your pickup code at the restaurant and collect the meals.
Hand meals out
Give meals to the people you serve, with free help sheets that list shelter, food, medical care and crisis lines nearby.
Record how many went out
Afterward, note how many meals you handed out, the ZIP code and the kind of place. Counts and places only, never names.
Reserve a meal for someone
Your staff can reserve a meal at a nearby restaurant partner for someone without a phone and print a slip with the meal code. Nothing about the person is asked for, the slip doesn't name your organization, and there's a daily limit.
Set up a tablet at your site
Put a tablet in your lobby or drop-in center so people can reserve a meal themselves, without an account. You choose the restaurants and a daily limit, and can turn it off at any time.
Who can join
Community partners work with the people they serve every day, so we ask a few things of every team.
An organization or partner team that serves people directly. The Foundation for Innovation in Society approves organizations and partner teams, not unaffiliated individuals.
A responsible contact who answers for your team's pickups.
A short training on pickup and transport, food safety, dignity and privacy.
A signed partner agreement.
What it costs: nothing
Meals are funded by donors. Most community partners don't receive money, so there's usually no payout setup at all.
Want to help on your own? Share the outreach toolkit or tell us about a group you'd like to bring in.
Steps to your first pickup
We'll walk through each step with you and email you as you go.
Step 1: Apply
A short form about your organization, who you serve and how you hand out meals.
Step 2: Intro call
We get to know your team, agree on a per-order limit and name your responsible contact.
Step 3: Agreement and training
Sign the partner agreement and take a short training on pickup, food safety, dignity and privacy.
Step 4: First pickup
Request your first meal pickup order from a restaurant partner, pick it up and hand the meals out.
After launch: 30-day check-in
We check in after your first 30 days to hear how pickups and hand-outs are going.
Free help sheets to hand out
Printable lists of shelter, food, medical care and crisis lines for Mesa, Tempe, Chandler and Phoenix. Print as many as you need and hand one out with every meal.
See help sheetsQuestions community partners ask
Organizations and partner teams that serve people directly: shelters, street outreach teams, food banks, churches, recovery programs, schools and senior programs. The Foundation for Innovation in Society approves each one. We don't approve unaffiliated individuals.
No. Meals are funded by donors, and there's no cost to take part.
Usually not. Most community partners don't receive any money, so there's nothing to set up. If a stipend is ever arranged with your organization, we help you set up payouts first.
Only counts and places: how many meals went out, the ZIP code and the kind of place (a shelter or street outreach, for example), and how many help sheets you handed out. There's also an optional notes box for things like running out early. Never names or anything else that identifies a person. The Pay It Forward team and the restaurant that made the meals can see what you record.
Yes. Once you're live, your staff can reserve a meal at a nearby restaurant partner from "Reserve a meal for someone" in your partner tools, up to a daily limit, and print a slip with the meal code. The meal is held for 4 hours. Nothing about the person is asked for or kept, and the slip doesn't name your organization. Your admins can also set up a tablet at your site where people reserve a meal themselves, without an account.
Each organization has a per-order limit that we set together when you're approved. Each request also depends on meals being available in the shared pool and on a restaurant partner accepting it.
Picking up and carrying meals safely, food safety, treating every person with dignity (no proof of need, ever), and keeping people's information private.
Yes. Restaurants can choose "Both" when they apply.
Ready to bring meals to your community?
Applying is free and takes one short form. Rather talk first? Send us a note and we'll get back to you.
Run a restaurant? See restaurant partners.