In 2003, Leket Israel was founded as a result of the ever growing need for food by a large portion of the population and due to the vast amounts of excess food that was going to waste. Today, Leket Israel is the leading organization in food rescue in Israel and is the only nonprofit whose sole activity is to collect and redistribute surplus food to benefit those who need it.
Each year, 1.3 million tons of quality excess food is thrown away.* Leket Israel’s operational model allows the excess food for one, to become the nutrition and food security for another.
Every day, Leket Israel collects high quality food from various sources: agricultural produce from orchards and fields, food with a short shelf life, cooked meals from hotels, corporate cafeterias, event venues, catering companies, the IDF, restaurants etc. Leket Israel transports this food to 195 nonprofit agencies throughout the country, providing food to 175,000 beneficiaries. Throughout the year, Leket Israel is supported by 52,000 volunteers from Israel and abroad; 25,000 of which are youth. This network, of loyal and dedicated volunteers, give of their time to collect, pick, sort, pack and distribute food for those in need.
Leket Israel continues to constantly seek out new sources of excess food with the goal to fulfill its vision; to rescue all edible surplus food in Israel for those who need it.
Leket Israel is recognized by The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN) as the National Food Bank of Israel. The organization was awarded the Presidential Award for Volunteerism, the Midot Seal of Effectiveness and is recognized by the Environmental Ministry as a voluntary organization.
(*)Taken from The National Food Waste and Rescue Report in Israel 2015 (produced and presented by Leket Israel, prepared by BDO Ziv Haft Israel)
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