Project DASH 2027 will award $150,000 in Food as Medicine Impact Grants from DoorDash. The grant period will award up to $15,000 per organization, the New Jersey Office of the Food Security Advocate said on social media.
Applications are due Nov. 30, with decisions by Dec. 31. Funds will be distributed by Feb. 28, 2027.
Project DASH
DoorDash established a $150,000 fund for its first-ever 2027 Project DASH Food as Medicine Impact Grants to support organizations integrating nutritious food delivery into patient care. These grants may be used to support projects achieving one of the following goals:
● Scale an existing Food as Medicine program to drive greater impact (e.g., reach more patients, add a new referral partner, expand into a new region)
● Pilot a new Food as Medicine program (e.g., a new produce prescription partnership, a new medically tailored groceries initiative)
● Add a home delivery component to an existing Food as Medicine program (e.g., increase participation by offering home delivery)
Who is Eligible for the Grants
Eligible entities include nonprofits such as community organizations and healthcare institutions that currently run or plan to launch a Food as Medicine program with a home delivery component, DoorDash said. Priority is given to current partners, but new orgs may also apply.
Click here for more information and to apply. It’s the first time DoorDash has set aside funding specifically for Food as Medicine.
Satisfying a Need
Feed America estimates that over 50 million people need food assistance across the U.S. It’s not just about food; sometimes it’s about logistics, like people who don’t drive or who work during food pantry hours.
“Millions of Americans go to bed hungry simply because they don’t have the means to get to a meal,” said Daniel Riff, Head of Food Access Strategy at DoorDash.
Project DASH is one of North America’s largest social-impact delivery programs, serving more than 300 food banks, pantries, healthcare institutions, and other community organizations, according to the press release.
During Hunger Action Month in September, DoorDash, through Project DASH, delivered an estimated 150 million meals on behalf of community partners across the U.S. and Canada, the company said.
What the Numbers Show
DoorDash’s third annual SNAP/EBT research report, released last month, shows how grocery delivery helps households that rely on SNAP benefits overcome barriers to getting food.
More than 4.5 million consumers have added SNAP/EBT cards to the app since DoorDash launched the option in 2023, up from nearly 3 million a year ago, DoorDash said. Almost 75,000 stores now accept SNAP/EBT — up from more than 50,000 in June 2025.
Across participating stores, about 85% of a store’s SNAP customers were entirely new to that store. Without SNAP/EBT on DoorDash, 61% of consumers said they’d turn to a different online big-box retailer rather than shop the same store in person, helping keep these customers local.
“People relying on this service often face steep barriers to shopping in person,” the company said. Other top reasons people use the service:
✓ Survey respondents are twice as likely to live in a food desert as non-SNAP DoorDash consumers
✓ More than 1 in 3 report living with a disability or chronic illness
✓ 46% cited caregiving responsibilities as the top reason for using the service
✓ 43% pointed to difficulty in accessing public transportation
Food Security in New Jersey
According to a report on analysis and projections released this month by New Jersey’s Human Services Department, more than 800,000 New Jersey residents rely on SNAP to access nourishing food. Federal cuts to Medicaid (NJ FamilyCare) and SNAP that went into effect Oct. 1 have triggered:
🥕 New barriers to food and medical care in all 21 counties
💰 Increased costs and responsibilities on state and county governments
Read the latest factsheet here.
The New Jersey Office of the Food Security Advocate is the first executive- and cabinet-level U.S. office dedicated solely to addressing hunger and food insecurity. It coordinates outreach to increase enrollment and outcomes in the state’s food security programs and initiatives.
“Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life,” according to its website.
Established by state legislation (N.J.S.A. 52:27J-3) in 2021 and officially launched in September 2022, the office operates out of Trenton, New Jersey, and is housed within and supported by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.
Executive Director Mark Dinglasa and his team rally and collaborate with New Jersey’s six state-designated food banks, state agencies, and lawmakers, as well as food pantries, community kitchens, local organizations, agriculture groups, food rescuers, and others. This year, the 3-year New Jersey Food Security Strategic Plan launched, and 87 organizations submitted 153 NJ Commitments for Food Security.
“These Commitments celebrate the great work happening across New Jersey and show how organizations are connecting their efforts to a shared vision for advancing food security for all New Jerseyans,” according to OFSA social media pages.
Contact the New Jersey Office of the Food Security Advocate for more information about the state’s food security commitments across all 21 counties, along with strategies, statistics, and other resources.
The New Jersey Food Security Strategic Plan provides a shared framework for building food security across the state. The Commitments help document how organizations are advancing the Strategic Plan’s focus areas and strategies. The Commitments build off of the final action-planning step outlined in the Strategic Plan Implementation Planning Toolkit (the Toolkit).
Explore the Strategic Plan and its supporting resources:
- Learn more about the New Jersey Commitments for Food Security
- Explore Questions and Answers about the Commitments process
- Submission will re-open for the 2027 Call for Commitments
- Write to OFSA@ag.nj.gov for support or assistance related to the Commitments process