WHITE PONY EXPRESS

Sponsor: Emily Karakashian

Website: whiteponyexpress.org

Contact WPE through project sponsor: emilytheok@gmail.com

Mission: To help eliminate hunger and poverty by delivering the abundance all around us to those in need – with love.

Impact Model:

CONTEXT

More than 100,000 people suffer from hunger in our county. Meanwhile, food retailers throw out tons of high-quality fresh food every day due to artificial sell-by dates or to make room for new inventory. People experiencing homelessness and poverty need access to basic needs like good quality clothing, shoes, hygiene items, and toys and books for their children.

TARGET

The hungry and marginalized in Contra Costa County, including the unhoused, low-income families and the aging, survivors of abuse, foster youth, and other vulnerable groups.

RESPONSE

WPE solves the logistical challenge that food markets face—what to do with surplus fresh food—by rescuing and delivering it to address the problem of hunger and malnutrition. The White Pony General Store distributes new or premium lightly used clothing, shoes, diapers, toys, and children’s books to neighbors in need.

OUTCOMES

120,000 people served each year. 2.4 million pounds of food rescued and delivered. 17.1 million meals created. 920,000 items of clothing, emergency supplies, and educational toys. 22,500 tons of greenhouse gasses were prevented.

vision

VISION

To build on the generous nature of Americans, so that a consciousness is born wherein it becomes natural for all to help one another. When that consciousness is widespread, there will be no more hunger and no more poverty.

Current Status and Project Goals: WPE’s 'circle of giving' model enables those who have to freely share with those who need, with WPE serving as the vehicle to connect the two. WPE’s model is sustainable and easy to replicate. While sometimes compared to the food bank, their model differs in that they provide almost 100% perishable food, including important nutritional food choices like organic produce, dairy, eggs, cheese, meat, and fresh bakery goods. Additionally, WPE delivers prepared meals, needed by many—housed and unhoused—who do not have access to kitchens or appliances. They take the food to the people who need it and get to know their recipients, customizing deliveries based on their preferences and unique needs.

Skills and Assistance Needed:

Click here to volunteer
Click here to support financially
Compose letters to potential corporate sponsors
Compose letters to in-kind retail clothing stores. We need to build relationships with stores, boutiques, and retailers to create a pipeline of donations from their returns, overstock, out-of season clothing, etc.
Help with our implementation of Salesforce (software) for scheduling, tracking, and communicating with volunteers. We need classmates who have experience with Salesforce NPSP (NonProfit Success Pack) Volunteer application integration.

ClassACT HR ‘73
Classacthr73@gmail.com

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