We were lucky to catch up with Sunny Mulford recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sunny, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Epic-Cure’s mission is to eliminate food waste to improve our planet’s health and to improve outcomes for the food insecure. Food waste comprises one-third of the contents of landfills where it emits harmful greenhouse gases (primarily, methane gas), so keeping food waste from landfills has a materially good impact on the environment. By diverting that food to the food insecure, not only is food security improved, but it is also the case that physical health outcomes improve, everything from type-2 diabetes to heart disease to asthma and many other related conditions. Improved food security for children means fewer behavioral problems and an increased capacity to concentrate in school, ultimately improving those children’s prospects for a happier, healthier, and possibly prosperous life.

What motivates us? With almost 40% of the food produced in this country going to waste (according to the USDA) and with one-in-six people in the US suffering food insecurity and it physical and mental health impacts, we could not stand idly by and watch as this nation throws away the solution to food insecurity.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

We are all volunteers at Epic-Cure. Volunteerism is a way of life for the core 200+ volunteers that help the charity – seven days a week. The reward for each of us is in knowing that we are making a continuous and immediate impact on the lives of the underserved in our community. We all believe in taking urgent action to end food waste and food insecurity, to uplift all with whom we come into contact – volunteers, partners, donors, and especially the food insecure recipients who shop for free at our food distributions. Creating a dignified experience for all at Epic-Cure is the key to what makes us proud. And, it doesn’t hurt that we are helping more than 2,100 families in Northeast Florida every week.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

It is clear to us that our reputation has been built upon some key concepts. The first is our emphasis on preserving the dignity of all. This core value informs how we talk to one another, how we interact, the warmth of our conversations, and the sense of community it all engenders. The second concept that runs to our core is the regularity of our free food distributions, which are decentralized (they occur in 23 neighborhoods in NE Florida each week) and occur on the same day of the week at the same time of day without interruption. Finally, we are relentless: when supply chain disruptions significantly decreased the amount of food to be rescued, we sought new and unconventional sources of food donations. We would not give up on acquiring the shortfall in food and in achieving an ever greater impact in our neighborhoods.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

That’s easy. We are married co-founders of Epic-Cure. We love this work and doing it together, even if it seems like a 24 – 7 thing!     

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.epic-cure.org
• Instagram: epicure_fl
• Facebook: @EpicCureCharity
• Linkedin: epic-cure inc.

Image Credits
All photos are the proper of Epic-Cure Inc. All rights reserved.