Des Moines non-profit Eat Greater Des Moines and Iowan founded Washington, DC, non-profit MEANS Database are raising money to support their food recovery efforts by selling ESG validation contracts through an online RAC auction that opens today for bidding during the month of April. The auction allows individuals or organizations to invest in the ESG benefits created by these organizations – from the people fed, landfill contents diverted, to greenhouse gases reduced – due to each food recovery event made available on the auction. This is the second RAC auction where non-profits can monetize their ESG contributions in order to support their core mission.
“Food recovery is still pretty misunderstood, so traditional fundraising pathways are not always available for us,” said Aubrey Alvarez, Executive Director of Eat Greater Des Moines. “We’re excited to participate in this auction because it recognizes our achievements, lets funders invest in what we’ve done, letting us get back to work in our community quicker.”
For non-profits who should be benefitting most from corporate or investor focus on ESG impact, traditional tools like carbon credits are prohibitively expensive to create and trade. A regenerative authentication credit, or RAC, allows non-profits greater flexibility in defining their ESG impact at a lower compliance cost. A RAC is able to offer greater visibility at a lower compliance cost, preventing the kinds of ESG greenwashing scandals making headlines recently, by integrating the neopublic blockchain technology offered by Des Moines startup Trokt into its validation architecture.
“Our nationwide footprint and increase in bulk food recovery, often moving 40,000 pounds of food at a time, make it harder for us to directly connect with those who want to make a specific impact in their community,” said Sammie Paul, Executive Director of MEANS Database. “It’s awesome that each RAC allows us to engage both small dollar supporters and ESG focused corporate benefactors. We’re excited by this opportunity to engage with more community members through this partnership.”
RAC Raise sites are not set strictly on food recovery, though. “Our next auction will likely be around land stewardship, we’re already planning efforts around reducing recidivism rates, and we already have a solution for low carbon intensity fuels coming down the pike,” says Allison Lawrence of RAC Raise. “The RAC framework is such a nimble, low-overhead option that lets nearly any type of ESG contributing non-profit put more than ninety cents of every dollar raised directly back into their mission.”
Bidding opens today for any individual or organization and closes at midnight on April 31.
To learn more:
Eat Greater Des Moines [ https://www.
MEANS (Matching Excess And Needs for Stability) Database [ https://foodrecovery.org ] is an online platform connecting those with excess food, like grocery stores, co-ops, and restaurants, with nearby emergency food providers who serve those in need. Our organization has two major goals: to reduce food waste and reroute that food to feed people facing food insecurity. MEANS has been working in the anti-hunger space for six years and has adapted to meet the needs of clients and those in need remotely during this unprecedented time. For more information, please contact Sammie Paul at sammie@foodrecovery.org
RAC Raise is an initiative of ESG RACs [ https://www.esgracs.com ]
Regenerative authentication credit (RAC) is an ESG validation contract that transfers the intangible value of a good work from its originator to a buyer. A RAC is the ESG equivalent of the wind and solar industries’ renewable energy certificate (REC) managed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The first RAC was generated and traded by renewable fuel feedstock firm Third Coast Commodities [ https://thirdcoastcommodities.