White Pony Express has been named the 2026 Outstanding Edible Food Recovery Program by the California Resource Recovery Association.

White Pony Express fights food insecurity by rescuing and redistributing fresh, healthy food to schools, community centers, assisted living facilities, shelters, and more in Contra Costa County, California. We’re a volunteer-driven organization that partners with restaurants, grocery stores, and farmers markets to nourish our neighbors, reduce food waste, and provide clothing, books, counseling, and additional support to attack food insecurity at the root cause from all angles. In a world of plenty, no one should go hungry. Yet food insecurity affects over 20 percent of Americans—including 1 in 6 members of the Contra Costa County Community. This fact felt unacceptable to Dr. Carol Weyland Conner—which is why she founded the White Pony Express (WPE) in 2013. She was troubled by the fact that thousands of people were suffering from hunger and poverty in a county of tremendous surplus. At the same time, thousands of pounds of high-quality fresh foods were being discarded due to artificially created “Sell By” dates, excess inventory, or simply because they didn’t meet presentation standards for the average customer. WPE is an organization that represents a new paradigm for sustainable community service. We are bridging the gap between abundance and need by diverting wholesome food from landfills and delivering this bounty to food deserts and underserved, under-resourced communities leading to improved health outcomes and opportunities. Another result of WPE’s work is the reduction of excess food in landfills aiding in the prevention of methane gas and improving our air quality. Since our founding, the WPE team of 400+ volunteers and 17 staff members has rescued and donated over 20 million pounds of nutritious surplus food—equal to 17 million meals and over 1 million articles of clothing, shoes, book, and toys. Together, our programs have touched over 120,000 lives and prevented more than 25,000 tons of Co2 emissions from entering the air we breathe.