Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank

Helping harvest is developing a community kitchen that when complete will receive food packaged in bulk and convert that food into ready-to-eat meals packaged, frozen and distributed primarily to seniors through our network of community programs. During the year ended june 30, 2024, activities were limted to raising donated funds for construction and transferring those proceeds to our city reading, a community based nonprofit orgranization, that is constructing the community kitchen in the googleworks complex in reading, pa. When complete, helping harvest will lease the community kitchen from our city reading under the terms of a long-term lease. Helping harvest anticpates opertions to start in the 4th quarter of fiscal year 2025.

Through hh' s management of the commodity supplemental food program, 2,256 low income senior citizens living in berks and schuylkill counties receive a tote filled with nutritional food every month. This package contains food of high nutritional value and is a supplement for the senior citizens diets. Each month the hhffb delivers the prepackaged totes to more than 102 distribution locations including low income senior high rises.

Helping harvest fresh food bank develops and supplies the resources needed for operation of the weekender program. This program provides a weekly bag of shelf-stable product to help meet the gap between the free and reduced meals that food insecure children receive in their k-12 schools. Enrollment in the program is conducted at the school by a designated staff member (teacher, counselor, social worker, nurse) who identifies students who are eligible to participate. Helping harvest food bank supports 90 weekender program sites throughout berks and schuylkill counties by providing the food and grocery products needed to fill an average of 4,200 bags weekly.