Rescue Relay

Powered by Salesforce Agentforce and Slack, Rescue Relay transforms fragmented rescue coordination into real-time intelligent teamwork, so volunteers focus on saving lives, not spreadsheets

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                                                                               ##Rescue Relay

Inspiration:

Rescue Relay is inspired by two lives that reflect the heart of animal rescue. Molly was a dedicated rescue coordinator who spent her retirement saving animals others overlooked. She organized fosters, coordinated transports, and personally cared for animals that had nowhere else to go. With nothing more than determination, constant communication, and an informal network of volunteers, she kept rescue operations moving. Her passing left a void, but her impact continues through the countless lives she helped save.

Sparky, a rescue dog, represents the outcome of that effort. He was one of 927 dogs rescued from a puppy mill in West Virginia, where animals were found in severe neglect. Through rescue networks like Molly’s, dogs like Sparky were rehabilitated, fostered, and eventually placed in loving homes. His life is a reminder of why this work matters.

Across the world, rescue volunteers manage complex, time-sensitive operations using fragmented tools like spreadsheets, group texts, and phone calls. Rescue Relay was built to support them, reducing operational burden so they can focus on saving lives.

What It Does:

Rescue Relay is a Slack-based agent that allows rescue coordinators to interact with Salesforce data directly within Slack. Key capabilities include: Accessing a real-time “morning board” summarizing foster needs, scheduled transports, and supply shortages. Querying data using natural language, such as identifying suitable fosters based on animal requirements. Creating and broadcasting urgent rescue alerts that automatically include relevant animal details and suggested foster matches. Enabling volunteers to respond and claim tasks with a single click, with real-time updates reflected across the team. This eliminates the need to switch between systems, reduces missed communication, and centralizes coordination in a platform volunteers already use.

How We Built It:

Rescue Relay integrates multiple technologies to create a seamless experience: Slack Bolt (Node.js, Socket Mode) manages messaging, event handling, and interactive UI components using Block Kit. Salesforce Agentforce enables natural language understanding and conversational interaction with system data. Salesforce REST API with direct SOQL queries retrieves structured data from objects such as Animal, Foster Profile, Rescue Needs, Transport Requests, and Supplies. Model Context Protocol (MCP) enables secure, real-time access to Salesforce data without requiring end-user authentication. Salesforce for Slack integration allows users to view and navigate Salesforce records directly within Slack. Salesforce serves as the system of record, while Slack acts as the user interface layer.

Challenges We Faced:

Several technical and infrastructure challenges emerged during development: Setting up a compatible Slack Developer Sandbox required reconfiguration due to access and collaboration limitations. Mapping the Salesforce data model required careful validation of field names, relationships, and picklist values using metadata APIs. Implementing Agentforce authentication involved handling short-lived tokens and non-standard session management via cookies. Addressing these challenges strengthened the system’s reliability and production readiness.

Accomplishments:

Built a solution that can be adopted by real rescue organizations with minimal setup. Reduced critical coordination workflows, such as urgent foster placement, from hours to under a minute. Maintained a Salesforce-native architecture, avoiding data duplication and ensuring consistency. Delivered a real-time, interactive Slack experience that improves volunteer engagement and responsiveness.

What We Learned:

Data quality and structure are more critical than the AI layer when building operational systems. Combining deterministic queries (SOQL) with AI-driven interactions provides both speed and flexibility. Slack’s interactive components can effectively replace traditional coordination workflows. Infrastructure elements such as authentication, API limits, and environment setup require careful design for reliability.

What’s Next:

Rescue Relay is designed to scale into a platform usable by rescue organizations globally. Planned enhancements include: Automated animal intake via image-based record creation Adoption announcement workflows integrated with social sharing Multi-organization transport coordination Automated medical and foster notifications Volunteer onboarding through conversational flows Supply donation tracking and matching The long-term vision is a deployable solution that any rescue organization can adopt quickly, without dedicated technical resources.

Rescue Relay is ultimately built to support the individuals who carry the weight of rescue operations, giving them better tools to save more lives.

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