Lyft is leading a food drive for families in need.

The ride-sharing app announced a new initiative this week to help low-income households who live far from grocery stores and who don’t have cars to get a lift to the store.

Lyft’s Grocery Access Program will kick off in Washington, D.C. next year in partnership with Martha’s Table, a D.C.-based nonprofit that provides families with access to healthy food, education and clothing. Qualified families can use up to 50 rides and pay just $2.50 both ways to and from the nearest supermarket in their neighborhood, such as Safeway (322 40th St. NE) or Giant (1535 Alabama Ave. SE). Only full-service grocery stores were chosen for this list, so that shoppers have greater access to fresh fruits and veggies rather than junk food at the nearest convenience store. The discount can’t be used on rides going anywhere other than one of the nearby stores in the program; however, passengers could in theory get out and go elsewhere once they were dropped off at the store.

The program will roll out its pilot from January to June next year. To qualify for the program, each household must have kids zoned in D.C.’s Wards 7 and 8, which are neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city that are the most underserved by grocery stores.

“We wanted to find a way for residents to have reliable access to fresh and healthy options for their family by reducing the time, transportation barriers and the financial burden that comes with grocery shopping in these neighborhoods,” Steve Taylor, Lyft’s Mid-Atlantic General Manager, told Moneyish in an email.

The program is designed to help families in food deserts -- areas where more than 40% of homes are located over a mile and a half from grocery stores. Lyft and Martha’s Table note that 81% of residents in D.C.’s Wards 7 and 8 are living in a food desert. They’re among the 23.5 million people living in food deserts across America, and nearly half of these individuals are low-income households. What’s more, approximately 2.3 million people (2.2% of all US households) live in rural, low-income areas that are more than 10 miles from a supermarket.

And people living in food deserts also are less likely to eat healthy, which has a dramatic effect on overall health and wellness by increasing the risk of obesity. When people live far away from a grocery stores, they’re more likely to result to eating fast food or processed junk food from convenience stores. And people who live in poor socioeconomic neighborhoods have 2.5 times more exposure to fast food restaurants than those in higher income neighborhoods.

So Lyft and Martha’s Table hope to reduce the time, financial burden and transportation barriers hundreds of families face as they meal plan and prep by making it much easier for them to get to stores stocked with whole foods like fresh produce and lean proteins.

But while access to healthy fruits, veggies and produce at the supermarket is crucial, there is also an equal need for education on how to cook, and what types of healthy food people should be consuming for fuel. A study on food deserts from 2014 examined the impact of opening a new supermarket in a food desert community in Philadelphia. While there was awareness of great access to fresh food, the new store did not lead to changes in Body Mass Index or rate of consumption of healthy foods.

Lyft and Martha’s Table are only providing affordable rides to grocery stores. However, national nonprofits like Common Threads provide cooking and nutrition education to children in underserved communities.

Taylor did not specify whether there are plans to roll out the program nationally.

“We think this is just the beginning, and we hope to continue to engage in D.C.’s food ecosystem beyond this pilot program,” he said.