FAQ for Food Recipients
What if the organization has an existing relationship with a food donor?
All currently held donation relationships can be maintained and streamlined through FeedHV. Donors can set and save a desired recipient, and may strengthen those relationships by opening new channels of transportation. Participation also opens receiving organizations to new businesses and farms – increasing their supplies and the variety of food available.
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If a donor has an existing relationship with a recipient agency, the donor can select that recipient to receive the food donation, and all may be managed through the ChowMatch app.
In the ChowMatch app: You will have the ability to create a ‘pool’ of existing relationships, choosing from agencies already registered with FeedHV, or by typing them in. If your recipient of choice is not in the drop down menu you will see, the name you enter in the text box will be sent to the FeedHV administrator for consideration.
You will then be able to select a recipient from the pool of existing relationships, choose the recipient from the pull down menu. If it is a one-time run type, the recipient selected in the existing relationships must match all criteria. If recipient does not match the criteria, the matching process is open to other recipients outside the pool of existing relationships. If it is a regular weekly or bi-weekly run, the matching criteria are ignored and the recipient is selected.
What if no volunteer claims the donation for pick-up, can the matched organization still receive the donation?
Yes. If the recipient organization has staff or other volunteers that can complete the pickup, they can sign up through the app and claim the donation. Organizations may even want to identify one person who could be available in such circumstances.
What if the receiving organization cannot accept donations for a time – due to staff vacations, illness, or mechanical issues?
Once a receiving organization registers to receive food, they will be automatically matched with donors in the area. Therefore, it is imperative that recipients reflect any such logistical matters in their app settings. If your agency is experiencing a disruption in service, you may return to your organization profile page, where you can simply select that you are not taking donations, which will prevent automatic matches from happening. The receiving status can be set to ‘inactive’ for any amount of time, and reset whenever you are able to accept food again.
And what if the receiving organization is not open or available at the scheduled time of a delivery?
If no one is present to accept a delivery, volunteers are instructed to try calling the recipient organization. If they are not able to speak with the appointed contact, or another representative, the volunteer will call the FeedHV administrator. Once the administrator is contacted, they will direct the volunteer to a back-up organization to ensure that the food is not wasted. The administrator will then set the organization that failed to receive the delivery as “inactive” in the app, until they are able to make contact and find solutions for future donations. That agency may reset their activity level within the app or contact the FeedHV administrator to be reset.
What is expected of organizations upon receiving a donation?
Once a donation is received, recipients are asked to verify the contents and quantities of donations through the app. This will help donors, volunteers and organizations track the impact of FeedHV – and provide necessary details for future grant applications as well as tax deductions for donors. If you are able to, while the delivery is being made – please take photos and send to info@feedhv.org for use in social media. After confirming the donation, we’ll ask you to rate the experience. Having your feedback will keep the app working efficiently toward a greater impact. Beyond that, nothing further is required – though our appreciation is offered.
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Take pictures of your drop off and email to info@feedhv.org. Refer to the FeedHV helpful photo tips
Can a food recipient make a request for a donation of food?
Not at this time. ChowMatch is currently set up to be donor driven only.
Our organization has an abundance of fresh produce. Is there a way to get volunteers to help us process it for future use?
Yes. Have your organization sign up as a Donor and then select Schedule Event and under event type, select Processing. Fill out the date, time, address of the event, the number of volunteers needed and any other information you want volunteers to know. An email will go out to any volunteers within the geographic range of this event opportunity.
