Cultivate Food Rescue

Founded 2016 — food rescue from July 2017

Founding: Cultivate Food Rescue was founded in 2016 by Jim Conklin, and it began as a culinary-training venture; in the summer of 2016 the University of Notre Dame and Cultivate were already collaborating on reducing food waste from the football stadium. The rescue work — recovering edible food that would otherwise be discarded and turning it into meals — began in July 2017, and the two dates divide the directories: sources that date Cultivate to 2017 are dating the rescue operation, and the organization's own account dates its doors to 2016. Both print, as mechanisms rather than a quarrel. Notre Dame was its first partner; rescues spread from home football games to dining halls and other venues, and in 2024 the university named Cultivate its Sustainability Partner of the Year.

Scale: The growth series is the organization's own: 42,300 pounds rescued in its first rescue year; 1,430,000 pounds within five years — thirty-four times the first year, in its arithmetic; five million pounds cumulative by October 2023; and more than fifteen million pounds by 2026, when Butler University's magazine counted thirty full-time and seven part-time staff, more than 5,000,000 dollars raised, and 6,500 volunteers over the decade. Cultivate has stood at 1403 Prairie Avenue since January 2020, adding a 22,000-square-foot cold-storage facility. Its Backpack Program sends six frozen meals home each Friday with more than 2,100 students in ninety-five schools across St. Joseph, Elkhart and Marshall counties, and its Cultivate Cares Food Network supplies nearly 300 food pantries and kitchens — the organization's figures, in its chamber of commerce account of March 2026.

Sources:

1. Cultivate Food Rescue (cultivatefoodrescue.com), About and Notre Dame partnership pages — the 2016 doors; the summer 2016 stadium collaboration; the first-year 42,300 pounds and the five-year 1,430,000 pounds; the Backpack Program and the Cultivate Cares Food Network.
2. Butler University, Stories, 2026 — Jim Conklin founded Cultivate in 2016; more than fifteen million pounds distributed in ten years; the staff and volunteer counts.
3. Nappanee Chamber of Commerce, Business of the Month, March 2026 — food rescue since July 2017; fifteen million pounds; 2,100 students in ninety-five schools; nearly 300 pantry partners; the Prairie Avenue campus.
4. NDWorks, 2023–2024 — the building at 1403 Prairie Avenue since January 2020; five million pounds by October 2023; the 2024 Sustainability Partner of the Year.
5. Michiana Community Health Coalition, meeting synopsis, 27 August 2025 — founded 2016, transitioned to food rescue in 2017; the 22,000-square-foot cold storage.