Our Story
Miracle Food Network (MFN) was founded in Ferndale, WA, by our President, Douglas N. Robertson.
In 2015, he saw two things happening at once—food being wasted and people going hungry—and decided to take action.
He began gathering food that would otherwise be discarded and getting it into the hands of those who needed it most.
Today, Miracle Food Network operates weekly Food Hubs (distribution centers) throughout Whatcom County, as well as in Gold Bar and Anacortes. Through these hubs, we serve more than 2,000 people each week.
We are a completely volunteer-run organization—from our President to every driver, food handler, and hub coordinator. We rely on the passion and dedication of our community to make this work possible.
Our Impact
Our Impact in 2023 (updated numbers coming soon)
From January 1st to December 31st, 2023, Miracle Food Network (MFN) rescued an astounding:
1,441,772.8 pounds of food and goods from the landfill
According to the Whole Earth Calculator, this effort equals:
1,200,996.74 meals served
657,448,396.8 gallons of water saved
782,882.63 pounds of CO₂ emissions prevented
These figures represent not only our commitment to resource recovery, but also the real, measurable environmental and community benefits our work provides.
How It Works
All rescued food and goods are transported to our main distribution center by a dedicated fleet of volunteer drivers. Once received, the process unfolds as follows:
A trained volunteer team carefully sorts and evaluates all items repackaging or portioning as needed.
Food unsuitable for human consumption is diverted to local pig farmers, ensuring that nothing goes to waste.
Drivers from community hub partners throughout Whatcom County pick up the sorted goods and distribute them.
This system ensures efficient redistribution to those in need while supporting sustainable agriculture and waste diversion.
The scale of food waste in America is staggering. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), nearly one-third of all food generated is ultimately wasted. In 2021 alone, this translated to an estimated 80 billion pounds of food discarded.
New state and federal regulations mandating food waste reduction are on the horizon. These policies will require organizations and institutions to adopt food recovery protocols—something MFN is already doing with proven effectiveness. We are prepared to assist others in adapting to these changes.
At Miracle Food Network, we firmly believe that food waste is a solvable problem. Through a powerful blend of volunteer commitment, community partnerships, and logistical efficiency, MFN is not only addressing the issue—we’re setting the standard for grassroots food recovery in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
Our Mission
“To interrupt, intercept, intercede, convert, and distribute food surplus and waste to transform and impact lives in communities that face hunger, poverty and other life altering crises."
We believe that food brings people together. When people come together and have their basic needs met, they share their stories. When we share our stories, our needs and wishes come to light and we can connect and empower each other to pursue our needs and wishes.
We are not in this "just for the food" though! We are working on our development center in Ferndale, WA to allow us to start building, training, and empowering the work force by encouraging people to share their skills, passions, and hobbies.
We are working to implement a program with our food recovery sites to support their needs for skilled staff that wants to work.
We encourage the “give a hand up, not a hand out” mentality.
