Members of The Farmlink Project deliver eggs to a food bank. Photo courtesy of The Farmlink Project

Meriden-based Planet Home Lending has announced a $15,000 contribution to The Farmlink Project, a nonprofit grassroots movement rescuing millions of pounds of fresh produce that would otherwise go to waste, but will now go to feed people in need.

The Farmlink Project was started in mid-April by college students and recent graduates who saw a need to connect farmers with surplus crops to food banks in need. Since its start, The Farmlink Project has already delivered meals to more than 10 million people across the country as millions of Americans have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Planet Home Lending’s $15,000 contribution will fund The Farmlink Response Team: Impact Tour, a five-week, cross-country journey to identify U.S. communities most in need, deliver food, tell stories that inspire donations and raise awareness of hunger.

The Farmlink Response Team will stop in more than a dozen cities, including New Orleans, New York City and Billings, Montana, delivering another 1.2 million pounds of food to over 1 million U.S families.

“We’re committed to helping people in the communities we call home,” Planet Financial Group President and CEO Michael Dubeck said in a statement. “The swift, unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 have left too many people struggling with hunger. We’re impressed with the work The FarmLink Project has done to help meet the needs of our neighbors during this challenging time.”

In July, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated more than 29 million people in the U.S. did not have enough food to eat. Meanwhile, farmers who sold to restaurants now have a surplus of produce. The Farmlink Project links those farmers to local food banks, then covers the cost of harvesting and shipping the food.

“We are urgently connecting farms with surplus produce to food banks in need at scale,” Impact Tour Director Jake B. Nelson said in a statement. “There is so much work to be done. We greatly appreciate Planet Home Lending’s support at this critical juncture. With Planet helping us spread the word, we can make hunger one less thing about which Americans need to worry.”

During the Impact Tour, the Farmlink Project will film a six-episode documentary series highlighting everyday community heroes fighting food insecurity, and the episodes will be available via its social media accounts.

Annually, the U.S. wastes 31 percent of the food it produces, Farmlkin said.