Do Some Good This Month
While SHARE Omaha's Do Good Days, presented by FNBO, are May 17, 18 and 19, you don’t have to wait to start making a difference! Your gift today to Saving Grace Perishable Food Rescue will help us nourish people and nurture the planet.

Do Good Days is three days dedicated to supporting Saving Grace Perishable Food Rescue and the other 650-plus participating local nonprofits. It includes:

Give on Tuesday
Donate during Do Good Days and help Saving Grace rescue perfectly good, perishable food that would otherwise go to waste and provide it to those in need.

Wish List Wednesday
Our wish during Do Good Days is that food would not be wasted, and that everyone would have access to good nutrition. You can help us make this wish come true by making a gift during Do Good Days or shopping from our Wish List.

Volun-Thursday
Do you want to help people and the planet? Join Saving Grace in spreading the word about how wasted food impacts the environment and why equitable access to good nutrition is important.

Be sure to follow the #DoGoodDays campaign on Facebook and Instagram as May 17 gets closer.
Saving Grace Founder Is WCA Honoree
Saving Grace CEO, President and Founder Beth Ostdiek Smith is one of 10 women who will be honored during the Women's Center for Advancement (WCA’s) 35th Annual Tribute to Women Luncheon Celebration. Each year, the WCA shines the spotlight on women whose work, dedication and commitment have grown and shaped women and girls in Omaha.

The luncheon takes place Wednesday, June 22, at noon at the Scott Conference Center, 6450 Pine St. For more information on the event or to purchase tickets, visit the Tribute to Women event page.
Partnership Benefits Runza and Saving Grace
Lori Placzek believes it’s her duty as a businessperson to do whatever she can to help the community. Working with Saving Grace makes it easy for Placzek, partner at Runza’s LaVista store and managing partner of the 90th and Fort location, to do that.

Prior to partnering with Saving Grace, Placzek loaded up her car and drove surplus Runzas to a local shelter. “We were doing it on our own before Saving Grace became the pick-up service,” she says. “That takes one piece of the puzzle out because our lives are too busy.”

Placzek takes pride in how efficient her restaurants are with not wasting food. They do, however, donate Runzas. Because it takes 45 minutes to bake the sandwiches, managers must anticipate needs. Any Runzas left at the end of the day are frozen.

“We primarily donate frozen Runzas,” Placzek says. Beth Ostdiek Smith, Saving Grace CEO, said the surplus sandwiches go to shelters and after-school programs to use for their clients.

“If we can lessen the impact of people having to find a meal, then we have done our job,” Placzek says. “We have an avenue to contribute and make others’ lives easier.”
Wasted Food Is a Problem in Our Community
Erik Bird, Saving Grace board member, and Autumn Taddicken, deputy director, recently lead a Food for Thought presentation on wasted food and how Saving Grace provides solutions by connecting surplus food from local businesses with nonprofit agencies that use the healthy food for their clients. Additionally, Saving Grace educates the public on how to be a #nowastedfood warrior and reduce food waste in their lives.

Taddicken said the 1.2 million tons of food that is not eaten annually in Nebraska and Iowa equates to $6.96 billion worth of food being wasted. This also wastes the resources used to produce this food, including 268.3 billion gallons of water.

“We actually have enough food to feed everyone,” Bird said. “It is a distribution problem.” 
Dining for Good at Dante - July 25

Save the date, Monday, July 25, for Saving Grace's annual fundraising dinner, Dining for Good. We have again partnered with Nick Strawhecker at Dante to present a fabulous dinner featuring rescued food and Nick’s own commitment to preventing food waste as a chef and restaurant owner. There will be fabulous items on our raffle and, of course, you will help raise much-needed funding for our daily program to rescue healthy food for those in need.