(This story was revised to include more information.)
Epic-Cure, an all-volunteer, food rescue and food distribution organization, founded in 2018 by Ken and Sunny Mulford, addresses food waste and food insecurity by rescuing produce, meat and dairy products to distribute to those who remain food insecure.
In its five-plus years, Epic-Cure has rescued and distributed more than 29 million pounds of food worth $60 million wholesale value distributed to 379,856 families.
“We currently operate as both a food pantry for families and as a food bank serving food pantries, food banks and nonprofits, with the goal of expanding directly and indirectly,” Ken Mulford told the St. Augustine Record as outlined in the company’s 2024 annual report.
“Total collections in 2024 amounted to 9.8 million pounds of food, our biggest volume since inception, to children under 18 and seniors of at least 60 years of age leading the tally,” he said.
Epic-Cure’s 2024 ReFED report showed that America wastes approximately 38% of the food it produces. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, one in six Americans remain food insecure with minority children ranking one out of five.
“Epic-Cure is a food charity,” Mulford said. “We address food waste and food insecurity by redirecting surplus food to feed people and animals.”
Mulford said that rescuing food on its way to landfills not only saves food, it sidesteps food becoming decomposed and emitting harmful greenhouse gases.
“Since our inception six years ago, we have prevented nearly 30 million pounds of food from harming the environment,” he said.
Epic-Cure sources food from Feeding Northeast Florida, FarmShare, Southeastern Food Bank, the USDA, grocery stores, food manufacturers, food distributors, trucking and logistics companies and local farms.
“We conduct more than 20 mobile food distributions with the help of volunteers,” he said. “Following the choice model, our patrons choose only the food they wish to consume, which likely reduces food waste.”
Identification is not required to receive food from either the food bank or the food pantry. Mulford said that Epic-Cure’s food bank “is a great way to expand the number of individuals we serve.”
“Most food pantries have very limited logistical capacity for refrigerated box trucks, forklifts, etc., and inadequate cold storage for reaching any real scale,” he said. “Our cold storage capacity provides food to other food pantries they would not otherwise be able to.”
Epic-Cure’s report shows that it increased its food-processing statistics from approximately 602,000 pounds of food per month in January/February of 2024 to over 1.02 million pounds per month in November and December.
“We built partnerships with local nonprofits, providing them food which helped defray their operating costs and better serve their beneficiaries,” the report said. “We provided 1.1 million pounds of food to other food banks, food pantries, and NE Florida nonprofits including Feeding Northeast Florida Food Bank (187,052 pounds), Calvary Life Center Food Pantry (98,098 pounds), Southeastern Food Bank Food Bank (93,468 pounds) and St. Johns Food Pantry (92,791 pounds).”
Approximately 20,492 people were fed per month.
“This value was steady, varying between 17,000 and 24,000,” Milford said. “While our food intake increased 75% by year’s end, food distributions remained steady at 20 per week (approx. 86 per month) due to limited capacity for safely transporting food.”
Epic-Cure also offers free cooking classes for U.S. military veterans and middle and high school students.
Mulford said that Epic-Cure’s use of the Rejected Pallet APP, an “Uber-like APP” that redirects rejected truckloads of food to become donations in real time, enabled Epic-Cure to rescue 113,000 pounds of food in early 2024 and 818,000 pounds by year’s end.
Epic-Cure also collaborated with Wildflower Healthcare to launch Epic-Med, which collects overstocked medical supplies and durable medical equipment from local healthcare facilities, clinics and individuals and delivers them – free of charge – to medical missionaries, non-governmental organizations and medical clinics that provide free health and dental care.
“While partnerships were formed, the initiative has lacked consistency and measurable impact, Mulford stated in his report. “We intend to address these shortcomings in 2025 but expect this initiative to require significant foundation-building, including partnerships with like-minded and effective healthcare concerns.”
Plans to complete a new 10,000-square-foot kitchen that will include two commercial teaching kitchens in St. Augustine are underway.
“The facility will have raised loading docks to accommodate semi-tractor trailer trucks for larger and more efficient food intake and outgoing logistics,” he said. “The facility will also have commercial refrigeration and freezing capacity to ensure the safe handling of significant amounts of produce, dairy and meat.”
Located at 450 South Holmes Blvd. “adjacent to the new SR-312 connector, affording excellent access for refrigerated box trucks and semi-tractor trailers,” construction is set to begin at the end of this year.
“We are not content to rest,” Mulford said. “With recent inflation wreaking havoc in our community, too much need remains. We cannot accept that 38% of the food produced in the U.S. is thrown away while one in six people is food insecure, so we’ll continue to build our food rescue and distribution track record.”
Mulford said that while he’s proud of Epic-Cure’s accomplishments, he’s equally as proud of the volunteers, community partners, board members, donors and grantors.
“Epic-Cure’s ecosystem raises spirits, dignity, and self-worth,” he concluded. “We, the Founders of Epic-cure are grateful, awed and humbled to stand on the shoulders of giants.”
This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: Epic-Cure rescues and distributes a record amount of food in 2024. Looks to do more in 2025
Reporting by Lucia Viti, St. Augustine Record / St. Augustine Record
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
