Grocery store donors are able to offer a vast variety of food for our clients. These donations provide high-quality, healthy, nutrient-dense, ingredients we use to feed hungry people in our community. This includes fresh produce, meat, dairy and more.

As inventory is ready to turn over, rather than throw food away, our grocery store partners have committed to giving food to us so we can get it to those in our community who are in need.

Sometimes, things happen beyond the control of the store. A power outage at a Target Superstore put thousands of pounds of perishable and frozen food in jeopardy of being discarded. The Cultivate team sprang into action and rescued it all. 

Some of these meals go to food pantries and homeless shelters while others are packed into backpacks for some of the most vulnerable kids at our local elementary schools.

Want to ask your favorite grocery store if they donate to Cultivate? Check our donor list. Don’t see them? Send them this email.

Restaurant donors provide us with fresh food that they cannot sell in a day. From deli meat to fresh produce and food prepared but not served from catering events, our partners are committed to avoiding food waste.

Our volunteers are able to take the raw ingredients, cook them, and create healthy balanced meals. Any food that is already prepared, is quickly added to the food rescue meal packing line and put into our trademark frozen meals.

These partnerships are the epitome of No Neighbor Hungry, No Food Wasted.

Want to ask your favorite restaurant if they donate to Cultivate? Check our donor list. Don’t see them? Send them this email.

Partnerships like the one we have with Notre Dame are one-of-a-kind. Not only do they donate food from catered events, dining halls, and sporting events, but they also consistently make financial and volunteer commitments to our organization.

This partnership has created opportunities for us to share our message at home football games, fundraising dinners, and even on national television through the Cleats for a Cause program.

Want to ask your favorite local school if they donate to Cultivate? Check our donor list. Don’t see them? Send them this email.

What happens to food in the supply chain that never makes it to the grocery store shelves? This can happen for a variety of reasons like lack of demand, supply chain delays, and “best by” dates being too close for food to be sold. When this happens, our partners make donations to us to prevent food from going to waste.

If ingredients are raw we take special care to cook and create healthy balanced meals. Any food that is already considered prepared, is either donated immediately in it’s existing form to our food pantry and shelter partners or added to the food rescue meal packing line. As always, the goal is to take these generous donations and get food to people who need it most as quickly as possible.

Want to ask your favorite food producer if they donate to Cultivate? Check our donor list. Don’t see them? Send them this email.

Our local farms and 4H participants know the value of hard work. They also understand the effort and resources that go into growing food for our country. When they have excess crops or 4H animals, they often donate those to us. We take special care to properly prepare these generous gifts and use them to feed our neighbors.

It takes all of us working together to feed the hungry in our community and our farm and 4H partners are committed to doing their part.

Want to ask your favorite food producer if they donate to Cultivate? Check our donor list. Don’t see them? Send them this email.