Specifications include, but are not limited to: The Food Recovery Work Group and Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) have established the following goals/objectives for the MCCFR network program: o Continue developing and nurturing working relationships with appropriate stakeholders and a program that fulfills the intention to maintain and expand sustainable mechanisms for the recovery and redistribution of excess food and produce. o Serve as a centralized point for collaboration and cooperation among multiple agencies and entities engaged in food recovery. o Understand and take a leadership role in advancing the County’s priority for food recovered in the following order: 1) people, 2) animals, and 3) return unused food to soil through composting. 5.2.1.The Contractor must continue the maintenance and expansion of the MCCFR network program to support and expand a sustainable approach to food recovery, distribution, and redistribution including outreach and engagement of restaurants, grocery stores, caterers, farm markets, and institutions with food services. The Contractor’s approach must facilitate collaboration with stakeholders and others that are a part of the FRAWG. 5.2.2.The Contractor must educate potential donors on the available options for food recovery and guide them toward the method that will work best for their business. 5.2.3.The Contractor must use data from FoodStat (https://stat.montgomerycountymd.gov/)to guide development and expansion of the network The Contractor must provide the following services to the County: 5.2.4.1. continue to advance and implement the current process that was developed during the first four years of the network: 5.2.4.2. identify characteristics of suitable food distribution organizations taking into consideration that multiple partnerships for recovering food are more responsive to the needs of food donors. 5.2.4.3. facilitate the relationship between food donors, distribution and redistributions organizations and recipient organizations including the types of food to be donated 5.2.4.4. maintain and improve standard food safety and handling practices for food donors of both small and large amounts of donated food; 5.2.4.5. maintain and improve standard food safety and handling practices for and means of transportation for donated food and grocery items in accordance with USDA Food Code, and Montgomery County Food Safety Guidelines. 5.2.4.6. coordinate pick-up, storage, distribution and redistribution as needed of smaller amounts of prepared and non- prepared recovered food (such as regular pick-ups from restaurants) as well as pick-up of unusual, large donations of food (such as a caterer with pallets of food to donate, the grocery store that loses power, or the truckload of excess produce); 5.2.4.7. continue implementing and training organizations on procedures for sanitary and safe food pick-up storage, distribution and redistribution of small and large amounts of prepared and non-prepared recovered food 5.2.4.8. ensure the staff and volunteers throughout the process who are handling food donations are qualified and trained in appropriate food safety, hygiene, defense, storage, and transportation and provide training to the organizations as needed