When every meal counts, you can't afford manual routing chaos

THE BUSINESS

Food to the Rescue has a noble but complex mission: coordinating volunteer drivers to deliver multiple meal packages to families across Putnam, Overton, and Jackson counties. Each volunteer can only handle a few addresses, routes change the same day as drivers' availability shifts, and volume keeps growing as more families need support. Unlike traditional delivery services, these are volunteers giving their time—and hungry kids who can't wait for their meals.

THE PROBLEM

Managing deliveries by hand simply didn't scale. The coordination team spent hours on delivery days manually creating routes in spreadsheets and making endless phone calls to volunteers. Multiple packages going to the same address had to be tracked separately. When a volunteer called in with a last-minute conflict—which happened frequently—the entire routing puzzle had to be rebuilt from scratch.

"We'd spend 3-4 hours every delivery day just shuffling routes around. If someone couldn't make it or we added new families, we'd have to start over. The volunteers were stressed because they never knew exactly where they'd be going until the last minute, and we couldn't take on new areas without completely overwhelming our small team."

The breaking point came when demand surged and new counties were added. The manual system that worked for 100 families simply collapsed under 400+ addresses. Routes that should have taken volunteers 90 minutes were taking 3 hours because stops weren't optimized. Families could get meals late. Staff could burn out. 'We knew we couldn't keep operating this way. We either needed to automate or turn families away—and turning families away wasn't an option.'

THE SOLUTION

"What used to take me three hours now takes eight minutes. I import our delivery list, assign volunteers based on who's available, and hit 'optimize.' The system does the rest—and it's better at routing than I ever was."

The system automatically merges multiple packages to the same address into single optimized stops, assigns each volunteer only the number of addresses they can reliably handle, pushes real-time updates to volunteers' phones when routes change, optimizes routing to minimize drive time while respecting volunteer constraints, and provides an intuitive mobile interface that requires zero technical training.

Beyond the technology, responsive support proved critical. Any question or issue was resolved immediately, often within minutes. The onboarding process was hands-on, with the team ensuring every volunteer felt comfortable before their first delivery. 'The support is phenomenal. When we had a question about merging package data, they jumped on a call and walked us through it. When a volunteer struggled with the mobile app, we got instant help. It feels like they're part of our team.'

THE RESULTS

The transformation was immediate and dramatic:

• ✓Hours saved every delivery day – Staff can focus on recruiting families and volunteers instead of logistics
• ✓Zero stress route changes – Same-day volunteer cancellations are handled in minutes, not hours
• ✓Volunteer retention improved – Clear, manageable assignments mean happier volunteers who keep coming back
• ✓Capacity increased – New addresses and packages are added seamlessly without breaking the system
• ✓Meals arrive on time – Optimized routes mean families get their meals when expected

After their first major distribution using the new system, the entire Food to the Rescue team gathered to review how it went:

"We discussed how the new routes worked for this distribution with our team, and everyone is very pleased with how things went for our Fall distribution. I just want you to know what a blessing you and your company are to Food to the Rescue. Our CEO and I both feel strongly that the Lord sent you to us."

"This tool didn't just save us time—it saved meals for kids who need them. We can now serve twice as many families as we could six months ago, with the same core volunteer team. When donors ask how we're scaling our impact, I show them this system. It's become absolutely mission-critical."

With operations stabilized in their core counties, Food to the Rescue is now expanding into two additional regions—something that would have been impossible with manual routing.

"If you're running any kind of volunteer delivery program and you're still doing routes by hand, stop. Just try this. It will transform your operation and let you focus on your actual mission instead of logistics spreadsheets."