You may wonder what the new Trader Joe’s Supermarket in South Bend has to do with a woman who brings her child to lunch at St. Margaret’s House. What is the connection between the 4-H kid raising livestock and the father of a child with cancer staying at Ronald McDonald House? How does a student from Bethel University impact a blind man trying to catch the bus? What is the kinship between a welder at Lippert Components and an elderly man living in a federally subsidized apartment?

The answer is Cultivate Food Rescue. We harness the goodwill of food donors and volunteers to renew hope, one meal at a time, to the food insecure in our community.

Before Trader Joe’s Supermarket even opened, they contacted us to help them be better stewards of the environment with the edible food they don’t sell. They are one of the many food partners we work with to rescue unused but still delicious food. The University of Notre Dame, Four Winds Casino, Stanz Food Service and Whole Foods are some of over sixty generous food partners we’ve had over the years. Partners who, in total, have donated over two million pounds of food since we opened our doors!

Enter the volunteers! Once all the food is donated here onsite, our staff work with devoted volunteers who help cook, package, and redistribute the rescued food. You have donated over 5,000 hours of your time in the last year: church groups; school organizations; banks; healthcare facilities; corporations; families and single volunteers. The Lippert welder who chose Cultivate as the organization for his volunteer day. The Bethel student who helped clear the sidewalk for our kitchen volunteer who is blind but can chop onions faster than most chefs. The 4-H student raising money to purchase livestock to be donated. Each of you plays an integral role in the success of our mission. We are eternally grateful to each of you.

Most of you are familiar with Cultivate’s backpack program that provides 1,000 food-insecure children with weekend meals. This, however, is just one part of our mission. As it did for most aspects of life, the Covid 19 pandemic shined the light on an additional need in our community. One that Cultivate could fulfill. Many area pantries and soup kitchens are limited from serving as many patrons as they envision due to the lack of funds, food, purchasing power, storage, and logistics. Cultivate Cares Food Network (CCFN) was born from this need. CCFN is a food pantry support system that provides much needed perishable food items to food pantries and soup kitchens in our three-county area at no cost to them. Inspired by our mission of fighting hunger and reducing food waste, CCFN focuses on providing these partners with perishable food items like protein, dairy, fresh produce and bread-items with a higher nutritional value than standard, non-perishable items.

CCFN partners with over 100 food pantries and soup kitchens in the three-county area. We are able to supplement the missions of organizations like Clay Food Pantry, Milford Food Bank, St. Margaret’s House and Ronald McDonald House Charities. We believe we have only scratched the surface of our potential. Our sole sources of revenue are grants and the generosity of donors like you. The equation is a simple one: If we increase our donations, we expand our mission and footprint in the community.

Please consider donating today and join us in our journey to transform a community.

During a time of such division in our country and world, Cultivate is a beautiful example of bringing the community together. Thank you for partnering with us!