“Whenever there is a tornado or a hurricane somewhere, we put our normal mission to the side and help to supply shelters that are unable to find or keep pet food in stock,” said John Kane, one of the directors of Rescue Bank, in a telephone interview on Friday. “We had a load go out to Atlantic City last week, and we’ve had trucks going into New York as well.”

Read the full article By Jason Laday/South Jersey Times of NJ.com originally published November 17, 2012

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Rescue Bank’s session was the first time that a national pet food bank network had an opportunity to speak to industry leaders about the benefits of partnering with rescues in their donation programs. The presentation started by describing the food bank concept and how it applies to delivering donated pet products to rescues, shelters, feral  feeders, social service agencies, and disaster response efforts.

Attendees acknowledged some of the problems that manufacturers have managing their donations such as verifying groups, tracking donations and lot numbers, or maintaining uniform policies across all of their facilities.

The discussion covered some of the benefits that industry could get from working with the Rescue Bank network. These included:

Tools for improving relationships –Volunteers and staff at animal welfare groups are a key source of information for adopting families, providing recommendations for food and other pet products and services. Manufacturers want better access to, and stronger relationships with, these volunteers and staff.

Information channels – There are three audiences that manufacturers want to engage- the animal welfare community (i.e., rescues, shelters, etc.), pet owners, and the regulators. A food bank network collects information from, and can help deliver messages to, all three audiences. Industry recognizes that better information exchange creates stronger relationships.

Product delivery system – The most visible part of a food bank network is the logistics operation – picking up donations and trucking them to our distribution affiliates. Since the network pays the freight, manufacturers save hundreds of thousands of dollars that they previously spent on freight and, in some cases, landfill disposal.

Several manufacturers met with us after the presentation and we’re contacting them to discuss their interest in the Rescue Bank network.

The Dixon prison receives food via Rescue Bank Baton Rouge. Click here for full article or watch the video below.

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