Sharing Excess

Sharing Excess started with a simple question: why do families go hungry when grocery stores throw away perfectly good food every single day? Founded in 2018 by Evan Ehlers while still a student at Drexel University, the organization built a technology-driven model to bridge that gap — connecting surplus from retailers, farms, and distributors directly to food banks, shelters, and community programs. What began as a local initiative in Philadelphia has grown into a national force, operating across 30+ states and rescuing over 100 million pounds of food and counting.

Their model is built on efficiency. Using a proprietary logistics platform, Sharing Excess matches available surplus with recipient organizations in real time — reducing the friction that typically slows down food rescue. The result is faster pickups, less spoilage, and more meals delivered. Every pound recovered represents a family fed, food waste reduced, and a step toward a system where surplus is seen not as a problem, but as a resource.

Produce that finds its purpose.

Fresh produce is one of the most impactful — and most challenging — categories in food rescue. It moves fast, spoils quickly, and is often the first thing dropped from donation pipelines because of the logistics involved. That's where the partnership with Nathel & Nathel comes in. With deep roots at Hunts Point and relationships across the supply chain, we're able to redirect surplus fruits and vegetables to Sharing Excess before they're lost — ensuring families receive the kind of fresh, nutritious food that doesn't always make it into the food rescue stream.

"Nathel & Nathel understands that good produce shouldn't go to waste — and neither should the opportunity to feed someone who needs it. Their support has made a real, tangible difference in what we're able to deliver to communities across the region."

Miranda Potmesil, NYC Program Director  ·  Sharing Excess

For the Nathel family, this partnership reflects something they've believed for generations: produce is only valuable if it reaches people. Working with Sharing Excess is a natural extension of that belief — a way to ensure the highest-quality fruits and vegetables make it from farm to table, even when that table is in a shelter, a community center, or a family's kitchen that might otherwise go without.

See their impact in action.

Sharing Excess puts every dollar and every pound to work. Watch how their team turns surplus into sustenance — and why food rescue at this scale is changing how communities think about waste and hunger.

Watch on YouTube