Retail Rescue

As a Feeding America network hunger relief organization, Second Harvest Heartland’s Retail Rescue program makes partnerships possible with a variety of retailers, from regional stores to national chains. Our program’s focus on food safety, adequate training and reliable collections enables our retailers to incorporate the donation program into their daily operations, ensuring food will get to those in need. 

Agency partners of Second Harvest Heartland provide vehicles and drivers to collect donations on a consistent schedule each week. The food is weighed and recorded, by category, and submitted for receipt on MealConnect every month.

Annually, over 600 retailer partners donate over 40 million pounds of food.

The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act

The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act is the foundation of the Retail Rescue program. The law states that while we are acting in good faith, the retail donors, agency partners and Second Harvest Heartland are all civilly and criminally protected if someone were to become ill after eating donated food. Good faith means that we are all being proactive in meeting standard food safety practices and ensuring that volunteers and staff are trained in food safety relevant to their type of food program. The Second Harvest Heartland Retail Rescue Team acts as your link to ensure good faith practices are upheld before and after the food is donated.

Retail Partners

Second Harvest Heartland stewards national food industry partnerships with Feeding America. 

National partners: Aldi, Costco Warehouse, Coborn's/Cash Wise/Marketplace, Dollar General, Kwik Trip, Fresh Thyme, Hy-Vee, Target, Trader Joe's, Sam's Club, UNFI, Walmart.

We also steward local retail partnerships. 

Local partners: Jerry's Foods, Knowlan's/Festival, Kowalski's Markets, Lunds & Byerlys, Radermacher, and other independent grocers.