Grocery stores · farms · kitchens
Throw it away, deduct the cost.Donate it — you may deduct twice as much.
United Under God, Inc. is the 501(c)(3). Sign up once here so the tax record is clean. Plenty is the pantry program that picks up the food. Receipts always say United Under God, Inc.
Your numbers
See what the dumpster costs.See what donating can pay.
Meat and dairy managers can punch in one week of what goes in the dumpster. The tax line is cost plus half the profit you would have made, up to twice the cost.
Throw it away. Write-off $200. Still pay $25 to haul it.
Donate it. Write-off $400 (at the twice-cost cap). We pick it up.
This week, donating may be worth $225 more than the dumpster. Over a year: $11,700.
People who felt the kindness still spend leftover money in your store. Not legal or tax advice. Show these numbers to your accountant (IRC § 170(e)(3)).
What you miss by not donating
Twice the write-off. Then they come back and shop.
01
Twice the write-off
Throw it away: deduct cost. Donate it: you may deduct twice as much.
Federal law (IRC §170(e)(3)) lets a business deduct the cost of apparently wholesome food plus half the profit it would have made, capped at twice the cost. Example: you paid $200 and would have sold it for $600. Dumpster write-off ≈ $200. Donate write-off ≈ $400. Caps apply — generally 15% of income from the business. Ask your accountant. This is not tax advice.
02
Kindness comes back as sales
People who feel a store’s kindness reciprocate.
They walk your aisles and often spend leftover money on other items at your store — milk, meat, soap, a birthday cake — not the one down the road. Research on pantry density finds no significant drop in grocer revenue when a pantry is nearby (Kopp & Chenarides). You are feeding a customer who still needs a store.
03
The dumpster charges you
Disposal is a fee. Donation is often cheaper.
Pull aging food, donate it, restock. Stores that do this have been shown to earn higher markups — one study found about a third higher after controls (Lowrey et al.). You also stop paying to haul what you cannot sell.
04
You are covered
Two shields, then a waiver.
The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act (42 U.S.C. § 1791) and Georgia’s own statute (O.C.G.A. § 51-1-31) protect good-faith donors of apparently wholesome food to a nonprofit. Recipients at this pantry also sign a waiver before they take food. The exception is gross negligence or intentional misconduct — not ordinary donation. If the store already advertises feeding kids, the dock is how that promise happens in Vidalia — department by department, without inventing a new program.
United Under God, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 81-3554390. Plenty is our pantry program, not a second charity. Plain-language summary, not legal or tax advice. Statutes: IRC §170(e)(3); 42 U.S.C. § 1791; O.C.G.A. § 51-1-31. Speak with your accountant and counsel.
Sign up once here.Then live in Plenty for pickups.
- 1. Raise a hand here. We keep the donor of record — name, store, contact, gift type, tax letter.
- 2. Tell Plenty when food is ready. Pickup window, load, driver, what left the dock.
- 3. Receipts say United Under God, Inc. Plenty is a program. There is one charity.
Already on the list? Request a pickup on Plenty. Neighbors who need food also sign in there. Vidalia pantry story.