“From our perspective,” said George Matysik, Share’s executive director, “if somebody of means can order food to get to their doorstep, somebody without means should be able to also.”

Growing need

Eligible seniors receive one box a month via DoorDash. Inside are juice, cereal, canned goods, and other shelf-stable food purchased by the federal government. Deliveries also include cheese.

Seniors can sign up for the Senior Food Box Program through mail-in application, over the phone with Share, or on Share’s website. Some people are signed up via caseworkers or family members.

Share executives realized that older Philadelphians in need had a hard time picking up and transporting the heavy senior boxes themselves, and many simply didn’t take them. Or, seniors were too embarrassed to queue up and wait to be handed food. Others didn’t know they were eligible. DoorDash was utilized to fill in the gaps, executives say.

Share’s DoorDash deliveries have increased 300% since 2022 because of growing need, a Share spokesperson said.

DoorDash began making senior-box deliveries for Share and nine other Pennsylvania food banks in 2021, according to Sheila Christopher, executive director of Hunger-Free Pennsylvania. The nonprofit, headquartered in the Pittsburgh area, is a statewide network of food banks and charitable organizations.

The organization pays DoorDash $450,000 a year for 8,000 statewide deliveries per month, underwritten by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Christopher said. More than half of the state’s deliveries originate at Share. Philabundance uses DoorDash for around 100 monthly deliveries; it relies on its own trucks to move food out, Christopher said.

DoorDash offers a discounted fee to Hunger-Free Pennsylvania, and makes no profit from the partnership, DoorDash executives said.

“You pay DoorDash $8 to bring you a McDonald’s burger,” Christopher said. “They charge us only $4.50 per senior box, part of its charitable program.

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