The Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act was created to encourage food donation to nonprofits by minimizing liability, in accordance with the Model Good Samaritan Food Donation Act. Signed into law by President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

, this law, named after Rep. Bill Emerson

Bill Emerson

Norvell William "Bill" Emerson was an American politician from Missouri. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1981 until his death in 1996. He was succeeded in the House by his widow, Jo Ann Emerson...

 (who encouraged the proposal but died before it was passed), makes it easier to donate food by allowing donor liability only in cases of gross negligence

Gross negligence

Gross negligence is a legal concept which means serious carelessness. Negligence is the opposite of diligence, or being careful. The standard of ordinary negligence is what conduct one expects from the proverbial "reasonable person"...

.

See also

• Child Nutrition Act
  Child Nutrition Act
  The Child Nutrition Act is a United States federal law signed on October 11, 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Act was created as a result of the "years of cumulative successful experience under the National School Lunch Program to help meet the nutritional needs of children." The National...
  
  
• Good Samaritan law
  Good Samaritan law
  Good Samaritan laws are laws or acts protecting those who choose to serve and tend to others who are injured or ill. They are intended to reduce bystanders' hesitation to assist, for fear of being sued or prosecuted for unintentional injury or wrongful death...