Community Food Efforts: Cultivate rescues 50,000 pounds from Target and Mishawaka woman starts front-yard pantry

SOUTH BEND, Ind.—Both Indiana and Michigan are starting to release November SNAP benefits for, but operations big and small are helping fill in the gap during the shutdown across Michiana.

At Cultivate Food Rescue, volunteers made the most of unfortunate situations, like last week’s power outage, at a time when their community food partners needed it most.

“We know who’s gonna benefit from that food especially right now with all the challenges we could really use the extra food,” said Jim Conklin, Cultivate Food

Rescue cofounder and executive director.

Fifty thousand pounds of food were rescued from the Target in Granger when the store lost power one week ago.

Volunteers spent hours making sure it did not go to waste.

“When you have a first time, it’s kind of neat. I remember our first ever Notre Dame game and doing a rescue of 3,000 pounds of food, and so to do a whole grocery store in one evening at the last minute and it’s 50,000 pounds, it was pretty exciting,” Conklin added.

On Wednesday night, 54 of Cultivate’s 200 local partners came in to shop for their pantries and social service organizations.

Neighbors are also stepping up to make sure their communities are fed.

“I just wish I could do more, but I am just one person,” said 22-year-old Mishawaka resident Cassidy Briggs, who created a makeshift food pantry in her front yard after seeing the idea on social media.

“I have a mini pantry. It’s not much, but it’s something I can at least put together,” Briggs added.

So far, Briggs has not received any outside donations, but the box emptied the first day she put it out.

“It’s good, but it’s also really sad that this is happening,” she said. “We shouldn’t have to rely on somebody having a little box outside their house to feed people,” said Briggs.

After a few days of keeping the pantry inside because of the weather, Briggs is once again asking those who stop by to take what they need and leave what they
can.

For more information on how to get involved with Cultivate Food Rescue, visit: https://cultivatefoodrescue.com