Chicago Food Rescue Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
612143163
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Food Programs

Reported finances

Revenue
$179,413
Expenses
$179,552
Assets
$160,810
Liabilities
$3,736

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Pete Marchese (Board Vice President)
  • Jake Tepperman (Executive Director)
  • Ethan Senser (Board President)

People named in this filing

  • Pete Marchese (Board Vice President)
  • Victoria Onufrieff (Board Secretary)
  • Jake Tepperman (Executive Director)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Chicago Food Rescue is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to bridge the gap between food waste and food insecurity in Chicago and the surrounding areas. We aim to make healthy food accessible to anyone in need free of charge wherever they are. Volunteers will deliver food using the Chicago Food Rescue app developed by Food Rescue Hero. This technology seamlessly manages the process of transporting fresh food that would otherwise be wasted from food donors directly to recipients using volunteers for transportation. We believe that no one should go hungry when there is an abundance of food available.

What it reported doing in 2025

Recovered and redistributed 250,143 lbs of food equivalent to roughly 208,000 meals and completed 1040 rescues. Picked up food donations from 75 food donors and delivered to 79 community partner recipients

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 100% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Revenue has declined or grown slowly and assets have declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 80.1%; rating input score 80
  • Program expense ratio: 80%; rating input score 80

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.1%; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.9; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 67.7%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: -9.7% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -20.6% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 80.1% of revenue deployed · 80% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $144K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 8 of 8 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 30/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.