Many years ago, Willow Glen resident Paul DiMarco was leaving a buffet dinner when he discovered that all the leftovers would be trashed and thought, “Why can’t it be picked up and delivered?”
Acting on this idea, DiMarco, a teacher at Hillbrook School in Los Gatos, founded No Time to Waste (NTTW) in 2013. The nonprofit picks up unused food from hospitals, grocery stores, delicatessens, catering companies and restaurants and delivers it to charitable organizations including Home First, Martha’s Kitchen, City Team Ministries and San Jose Family Shelter.
“Our motto is that we match the giver with the need,” DiMarco says.
That need has gotten greater with the COVID-19 pandemic, and DiMarco has joined Silicon Valley Strong to help meet it. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo’s office developed the initiative in partnership with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation to raise funds and provide resources for seniors and the medically vulnerable, populations being urged to self-isolate for their own safety.
Working with Silicon Valley Strong, DiMarco delivers food to Martha’s Kitchen for distribution to seniors and quarantined people. He also provides meals for homebound senior citizens and others in need, including a woman with COVID-19 who has eight children. DiMarco has been delivering 27 meals a day to the family, as well as extras like Easter eggs.
Besides edible goods, NTTW has collected toiletries and personal care items from selected retail stores. “Once I received 20,000 hand-warmers and was able to distribute them to Northern California Wildfire Relief,” DiMarco says. “Our main purpose, however, is food. It is critical that there be no waste.”
Efficiency is a keynote of his organization. “I make sure that the store I take on is close to the charity I want to deliver to,” says DiMarco, who makes deliveries seven days a week. “Alternatively, it could be close to my work or residence, and I pick things up and deliver.”
He focuses on collecting ready-to-eat meals that would be normally tossed in garbage cans. “These are easy to gather and deliver to clients,” he says. “I can easily stack 200 meals in my car.”
If a store has produce or canned items to donate, he will match them with agencies that will collect them.
According to the NTTW website, the nonprofit has delivered 53,000 lbs. of food to feed 60,000 people, reducing carbon dioxide emissions from processing food waste by 28,000 lbs. For more information about volunteering or donating, visit https://www.notimetowaste.live.
To get connected to meal delivery and other services, visit https://siliconvalleystrong.org.
