Inter-Faith Food Shuttle was founded on a simple but powerful idea: good food shouldn’t go to waste.
When our founders, Jill Staton Bullard and Maxine Soloman, first began this work, they saw a gap that didn’t make sense—nutritious food was being discarded, while families across our community struggled to put meals on the table. Food recovery became the foundation of our mission: rescuing surplus food and redistributing it to neighbors who need it most.
That foundation still drives our work today and it’s made possible through long-standing partnerships with organizations like Ford’s Produce.
“Our partnership goes back to when Jill would come around in her station wagon,” Vaughn Ford, owner of Ford’s Produce, said. “I remember that from when I was maybe 12 or 13 years old.”
What started as a shared commitment to reducing food waste has grown into a vital operation that helps nourish thousands of people across our seven-county service area.
Today, Inter-Faith Food Shuttle trucks back into Ford’s Produce five days a week, collecting pallets of fresh fruits and vegetables—food that remains high-quality and nutritious but can’t be sold in a traditional retail setting. This results in thousands of pounds of fresh produce each month. From sweet potatoes and leafy greens to squash, cucumbers, peppers, and watermelon, much of this food is grown right here in North Carolina then quickly redirected to reach neighbors instead of landfills.
This kind of partnership is essential to how we fight hunger.
At Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, we don’t just focus on access to food—we focus on access to nutritious food. Fresh vegetables and nutrient-dense options are critical to supporting long-term well-being, and we believe our neighbors deserve food that fuels their bodies and feels like home.
Through partnerships like Ford’s Produce and many others across the retail and agricultural sectors, we’re able to recover food every day that would otherwise go to waste and ensure it reaches people instead. Hunger and food waste exist side by side and partnerships like this are how we bridge that gap.
Together, we’re not just recovering food. We’re restoring dignity, supporting health, and strengthening our community.