10. Staff or volunteers in need must meet the same standards of need as all other persons coming to the agency for assistance, and must follow the same procedures to receive assistance. Emergency situations should be dealt with by designated persons within the agency, and must be handled discreetly to preserve client confidentially.
11. Agencies may use non-food items (hand soap, toilet paper, cleaning supplies) provided by Second Harvest for use in agency upkeep or in support of the agency's food distribution program. Use of these items by the agency must be controlled by designated persons within the agency, and must be documented, monitored and periodically evaluated.
12. Agencies may pull donated food items (pastries, tea, coffee, sugar, etc.) from inventory for on-site consumption by agency volunteers in special circumstances. Volunteers who qualify, based on need, may be served a meal using Second Harvest product. Agency staff (not of low income) may not use Second Harvest product for regular meals or snacks. Bread and bakery products that are in excess and will spoil may be made available to staff, but only after all needy persons have been served.
13. Agencies may use donated goods as refreshments for business meetings where agency-related business is conducted and refreshments are normally served. Use of product for this purpose should be incidental to its primary use in the care of the ill, needy or infants. However, Second Harvest does not recommend this practice.
14. Agencies may distribute donated product in disaster situations, where volunteer workers who may not otherwise be ill, needy or infants may consume some product.
15. Agencies may provide services to persons involved in labor disputes if the agency's normal standards of determining need are followed. Need verification tests should go beyond the fact of the person's being temporarily without income from their normal job and a member of a union involved in a dispute. Having a working spouse, receiving strike pay, or working at a temporary job would likely serve as a basis for declaring a client ineligible for food assistance.
16. A 501C(3) agency may designate a non-501C(3) group to act as its agent in distributing donated product obtained from Second Harvest. However, the 501C(3) agency must be responsible for the product distribution activities of the designated group. Funds used to pay the shared maintenance must come from the 501C(3) agency, not the designated group. All funds received and disbursed in connection with the donated product must go through the fiscal books of the 501C(3) agency.
17. Home-based service programs (such as foster care homes or family-based day care) are excluded from Second Harvest membership, unless the service is provided under the auspices of a 501C(3) organization.
18. Entities operated directly by a branch of government (local, state or federal) are municipalities, not 501C(3) agencies, and, therefore, are not eligible to receive donated product from Second Harvest. This includes jails, prisons, schools, or hospitals that are instruments of municipalities.
19. Second Harvest member agencies may not distribute donated product outside Second Harvest's service territory, except with special approval from Second Harvest.
20. Unusable (spoiled) donations of Second Harvest food may be distributed to a non-501C(3) party for use as animal food. There must be a written agreement between the animal feeder and the agency in which it is clear that the donated product will only be used as animal feed and will not be sold, transferred or bartered for money, property or other services. Second Harvest can provide details as to the content of the agreement upon request.

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