Community Connections
Shining a local light on:
Food Rescue US - Fairfield County
Proudly serving:
Bethel, Bridgeport, Brookfield, Danbury, Darien, Easton, Fairfield, Greenwich, New Canaan, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Norwalk, Redding, Ridgefield, Southport, Stamford, Weston, Westport, Wilton
Learn more about their charity:
Community Connections
Community Connections shines a light on local charities whose compassion, service, and dedication strengthen the fabric of our community. By sharing their stories, we hope to inspire others and help the spirit of giving spread throughout our towns.
Under the spotlight today: Food Rescue US - Fairfield County
An interview with Karen Saggese, Lead Site Director - Food Rescue US - Fairfield County
How do you brighten our community?
Food Rescue US - Fairfield County serves the community by tackling two interconnected challenges at once: food insecurity and food waste. Using a decentralized, tech-driven model, we keep fresh, nutritious food out of local landfills and deliver it directly to individuals and families who need it most.
Who do you serve in our community?
We serve Fairfield County by bridging the gap between those experiencing food insecurity and local businesses or groups looking to reduce their environmental footprint through food rescue.
What are you most proud of?
We are most proud of keeping more than 3.8 Million pounds of food out of the waste stream in 2025 and would not be able to make that happen without our exceptionally dedicated volunteers who go the extra mile for our community every day.
What was the spark that started your organization?
The spark that started Food Rescue US (originally founded as Community Plates in 2011) was a striking paradox that didn't make sense to its two founders, Jeff Schacher and Kevin Mullins. At the time, roughly 1 in 7 households in Connecticut were experiencing food insecurity. Simultaneously, millions of tons of perfectly good, fresh food were being thrown directly into landfills by local grocery stores, restaurants, and caterers. The two founders realized that the fundamental issue wasn't a lack of food, but a lack of logistics. Instead of building warehouses, they realized they could leverage a flexible network of community volunteers who were already driving around Fairfield County. The true "spark" was realizing that an app could turn ordinary cell phones and personal cars into a hyper-efficient, direct-transfer food rescue network, bypassing the need for storage entirely and getting fresh food to those in need within minutes.
What is one of your future impact goals?
Our vision for the future is a Fairfield County where no good food goes to waste and no neighbor goes hungry. As we grow, we are intentionally expanding our rescue routes to better protect two groups hit hardest by food insecurity: our youth and our seniors. By partnering with local afterschool programs, we aim to fuel children with healthy snacks and meals during those critical late-afternoon hours. At the same time, we are deepening our outreach to seniors living on fixed incomes, bringing fresh produce and grocery staples directly to them so they never have to choose between nutrition and other basic necessities.
How did you change a life?
For a senior neighbor in Bridgeport or Stamford living on a fixed income, skyrocketing grocery prices create an agonizing choice: pay for prescription medications and winter heating, or buy healthy food. When a Food Rescue US volunteer stocks a local community fridge or delivers straight to a senior housing complex, that choice disappears. It changes their life by providing consistent, reliable access to premium groceries right where they live, preserving both their health and their independence.
Who are your community partners?
We fight food insecurity and waste through a strong, collaborative network across Fairfield County. Our partners include local businesses, food banks, farms, farmers markets, houses of worship, and philanthropic foundations, as well as local and state government, social service agencies, and fellow hunger-relief organizations.
Local-Insta thanks Fairfield County Bank for making our Community Connections series possible!
Celebrating the charities that make our community stronger.
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