Epic-Cure: A Non-Profit Tackling Food Waste and Hunger in Northeast Florida

By Holly Hearn

Food waste and food insecurity are two issues that are dealt with in every corner of the world. One organization in Northeast Florida has taken a unique approach to reducing these issues in the region.

Epic-Cure, founded in 2018 by Sunny and Ken Mulford, was created in response to the high amount of food waste produced each year. Epic-Cure works to eliminate both food waste and food insecurity by taking leftover food from grocery stores and distributing it to those in need.

Food waste plays a major role in the number of emissions going into the atmosphere. According to a 2021 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food waste produces 170 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year, the equivalent to 42 coal-fired power plants.

Food insecurity is a tragic yet common occurrence. In 2024, Epic-Cure served an average of 20,000 people each month between St. John’s County and Putnam County. According to a 2023 USDA report, 13.5% of households in the United States are food insecure.

“When you have something come up in your life, you get a flat tire and you have to replace it, suddenly you have a $400 tire you need to buy to get you to work every day. Where does that extra $300 or $400 come from that month? The food budget,” said Lisa Chismark, an Epic-Cure volunteer of four years.

Epic-Cure accepts over 1 million pounds of leftover food from local grocery stores each month. These stores include Publix, Winn Dixie, Dollar General and more.

The volunteers work to sort through the food and prepare it for distribution to their many food markets each week. What doesn’t make the cut for the markets gets distributed to local farms to be fed to animals, tying into the idea of reducing food waste as much as possible.

“The daily work is saving the planet,” said Francisco Sanchez, Epic-Cure’s director of operations. “Rescuing food and feeding the needy, feeding the people. That is the daily basis of the program, basically. Cleaning the food, getting the right food, getting the food to the animals at the farms.”

Epic-Cure works to help their community in more ways than just distributing leftover food. They have created multiple programs to help the people they serve find success.

Epic-Cure offers cooking classes to their youth participants to teach them valuable life skills. Each month, they focus on a different type of meal, ranging from appetizers to foods from various cultures.

They get to take the meals they cooked back to their families, which continues their work of reducing food insecurity, while also learning how to cook. This has even created career opportunities, as some have gone on to work in restaurants.

A newer addition to Epic-Cure’s offerings is a partnership with the Wildflower Healthcare. It can be difficult for uninsured families to get proper healthcare treatment, so this partnership seeks to provide health care to those in need.

The program, titled Epic-Med, distributes donated medical supplies for need it most and operates out of the St. Augustine warehouse. They will distribute these donated supplies to medical missionaries, Non-Government Organizations, free clinics and patients in need.

Looking ahead, Epic-Cure is planning to continue to advance their services. Their major goal is to expand their St. Augustine warehouse. The program is quickly outgrowing the space, and expanding their facility would allow them to reach even more people.

Epic-Cure also hopes to gain even more partnerships in their community. Organizations with a  501(C)(3)- a code that officially recognizes charitable, religious or educational organizations- can come in and shop at Epic-Cure’s weekly markets.

Many of these organizations, such as youth homes, do not have the space to accommodate large quantities of food for their people. Having something like Epic-Cure’s markets allows them to consistently provide to those who use their services.

Expanding partnerships with these organizations would create an opportunity for Epic-Cure to reach even more people.

“Every day you see a difference. It’s a happy place,” Sanchez said. “This is the happiest place you can be in St. Augustine.”