Corporate – Nonprofit Partnership Rescues over Two Million Pounds of Food February 12 , 2015
Corporate – Nonprofit Partnership Rescues over Two Million Pounds of Food February 12 , 2015
Since 2011 , Kwik Trip and partner food banks , including the Northeast Iowa Food Bank , have rescued over 2 million pounds of food through the Kwik Trip Food Rescue program .
This corporate – nonprofit partnership combines the skills and assets of Kwik Trip and food banks to better reach the shared goal of food secure communities :
- Kwik Trip ’ s logistical and marketing skills are combined with food banks ’ community needs assessment and client relations skills , and ; - Kwik Trip ’ s surplus food assets are combined with food bank ’ s food distribution assets ; - Resulting in more food secure communities , which food banks serve and where Kwik Trip does business .
Kwik Trip traditionally waits until there are at least ten of their stores in a food bank ’ s service area before initiating a food rescue partnership , and challenges partnering food banks to rescue food from every Kwik Trip store in their region .
Food bank staff and volunteers typically collect food two times a week from participating Kwik Trip stores .
To ensure quality as the rescued food is transported , Kwik Trip helps partner food banks :
� collect food from Kwik Trip stores in totes , and ;
� transport food in climate controlled vehicles .
Kwik Trip , Inc . relies on the partner agencies each food bank has in their network . Each food bank will partner with a local agency that is able to conduct store pick-ups at a minimum of 2 times a week . Donated / Rescued food stays in the local communities and ultimately reduces hunger in the communities where Kwik Trip and Kwik Star are located . Even donations raised at store level are distributed through the food banks to the partner agencies that are picking up at the stores .
The program began as a small pilot in 2011 with the Channel One Regional Food Bank in Rochester , Minnesota . By September , 2012 , the program expanded to include Second Harvest Heartland Food Bank in the Twin Cities and the Northeast Iowa Food Bank . Food banks serving Wisconsin were added in 2013 , and the program will soon expand again to include the River Bend Foodbank serving Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois . With these expansions , the program is on track to rescue over 1 million additional pounds of food in the fiscal year ending in September 2015 .
For more information about the Kwik Trip Food Rescue Program , please contact Mr . Marty Putz at MPutz @ kwiktrip . com or at 608-793-6218 .
Page | 57