Extra Food from NFL Draft Festivities Will Feed Communities, Not Landfills
412 Food Rescue. Benter Foundation photographs.

GREEN SCENE

Extra Food from NFL Draft Festivities Will Feed Communities, Not Landfills

separatorMarch 2026

Pittsburgh is poised to host the biggest event in its history, with 500,000 to 700,000 fans from across the country expected to flood in for the NFL Draft in April. The festivities will come with a whole lot of food, and ensuring that as little of it as possible goes to waste will be homegrown nonprofit  412 Food Rescue, which is coordinating with event organizers (with program support underwritten by The Heinz Endowments) to collect good food that has gone uneaten and transport it to nonprofits serving Pittsburgh communities.

Pittsburgh is a historic football city — and it’s also an innovation city, home to a thriving technology sector that is exemplified by 412 Food Rescue’s trailblazing synthesis of tech for good and community power. Founded in 2015, it is the largest volunteer food rescue organization in the country, with a growing community of 26,000+ volunteers. To date, it has diverted over 39 million pounds of food bound for the waste stream in Western Pennsylvania — the equivalent of more than 33 million meals — mitigating over 83 million pounds of CO2 emissions in the process.

412 Food Rescue. Benter Foundation photographs Following food donated earlier in the day from CMU to the First Presbyterian Church on 6th Street for an evening meal sponsored by OutreachedArms.org. Maryem Aslam front, helps prepare the food for the evening meal. Backgroun: Daniel Snyders and Leslie Turis
Following food donated earlier in the day from CMU to the First Presbyterian Church on 6th Street for an evening meal sponsored by OutreachedArms.org. Maryem Aslam front, helps prepare the food for the evening meal. Backgroun: Daniel Snyders and Leslie Turis

In 2016, 412 Food Rescue launched Food Rescue Hero, a proprietary app that makes claiming food rescues easy and convenient, guiding each volunteer every step of the way from pickup to delivery. The platform is licensed for use at 22 food rescue organizations in North America, including in nearby Philadelphia, Erie, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. The 63,000 volunteer drivers coordinated by the app have diverted over 280 million pounds of food.

Using this technology, 412 Food Rescue has previously mustered its network of local volunteers to recover food from other large events, including concerts by Billie Eilish and Machine Gun Kelly.

Come April, as millions have their eyes on the NFL picks, the 412 Food Rescue team, in partnership with the Pittsburgh Local Organizing Committee, and thousands of regular Pittsburghers will be working hard behind the scenes, ensuring the safe transport of extra food from all sanctioned Draft events.

412 Food Rescue. Benter Foundation photographs Melinda Angeles and Eli Thomas carry a donation of bagels from Bruegger's Bagels across the 9th Street bridge to a North Side senior center.
Melinda Angeles and Eli Thomas carry a donation of bagels from Bruegger's Bagels across the 9th Street bridge to a North Side senior center.
412 Food Rescue Volunteers
412 Food Rescue Volunteers
James Simon's delivery from Giant Eagle went to the seniors and disabled at Caliguiri Plaza. Resident and volunteer, Leslie Springs sorts the food and delivers it to some of the residents. Here, she's gives 90-yr-old Ella Mae Smith a delivery. Photo by Nancy Andrews
James Simon's delivery from Giant Eagle went to the seniors and disabled at Caliguiri Plaza. Resident and volunteer, Leslie Springs sorts the food and delivers it to some of the residents. Here, she's gives 90-yr-old Ella Mae Smith a delivery. Photo by Nancy Andrews

Additionally, on Sunday, April 26, 412 Food Rescue will hold “Fourth & Feast: From the Field to the Table” at its Good Food Project in the Food and Energy Hub in Millvale. Donors, contributors and volunteers will be invited to this special family-style meal made from rescued Draft food, and a yet-to-be-revealed Steelers legend will be on hand to help. The event will include a talk about the impact of Pittsburgh sports teams on sustainability and food insecurity in the region, and give guests a chance to see how this zero-waste kitchen handles bulk surplus food donations, transforming them into hundreds of satisfying and nutritious meals that are delivered to the community every week. 

“As a lifelong Pittsburgher, I’m proud to show the nation, and world, how we do things here. This city is a hub for both technological innovation and community activation. The incredible volunteers we work with here have proven that, when you put the right tools in their hands, regular people can turn potential waste into abundance at an astonishing scale. The model we’ve built and refined in Pittsburgh is now fighting methane emissions and food insecurity across North America, and the NFL Draft is a fantastic opportunity to show just what it can accomplish.”
Alyssa Cholodofsky

Alyssa Cholodofsky

412 Food Rescue CEO

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