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Legal Protection for Food
Donors
Your food gift
makes a big difference in the lives of local families and individuals. You can
donate in good conscience, because your contribution is
protected from liability by the Bill Emerson
Good Samaritan Food Donation Act. This law was specifically designed
to provide broad protection from civil liability to individuals and corporations
who wish to support their local community. This Act encourages the donation of
food and grocery products to non-profit organizations that, in turn, distribute
to those in need.
Easier to Donate . . . Here's How:
- It protects you
from liability when you donate to a non-profit organization.
- It protects you
from civil and criminal liability should the product, donated in good faith,
later cause harm to the needy recipient.
- It standardizes
donor liability exposure. You or your legal counsel no longer have to
investigate liability laws in 50 states.
- It sets a
liability floor of "gross negligence" or intentional misconduct for persons
who donate grocery products. According to the new law, gross negligence is
defined as "voluntary and conscious conduct by a person with knowledge (at
the time of conduct) that the conduct is likely to be harmful to the health
or well being of another person."
- Congress
recognized that the provision of food close to the date of recommended
retail sale is, in and of itself, not grounds for finding gross negligence.
For example, you can donate cereal marked close to code date for retail
sale.
In addition . .
. .
The Hoosier Hills
Food Bank has a contract with the organizations and churches that serve
low-income individuals. This contract outlines how the food needs to be handled
and stipulates that the food must go to ill, needy, or children, and is given at
no charge. It also releases the donor from any liability that may result
in the use of the food.
Easier to Do the Right Thing . . .
- Your company's
support promotes corporate citizenship.
- A public survey
indicates that 80% of survey respondents would be encouraged to buy products
from companies supporting hunger relief.
- The 1995 Market
Potential Report found that 83% of more than 240 companies polled cited
"liability concerns" as the single greatest factor in determining if their
company would donate product.
In the same report, 75% of 300 companies interviewed reported
greater satisfaction in donating food and grocery products than selling them to
secondary markets, dumping or destroying them.. |
