2016-17 Fund Drive

If you are reading this message, you have probably supported Community Harvest in the past. Perhaps you have attended an event like the Harvest Moon Run or Celebrity Cuisine. Or maybe you have been learning about us through our Facebook page. You may even have have donated to Community Harvest in the past because you agree that more children and families need access to nutritious food. You may recognize that sustainable, community-led solutions to end hunger make the most sense for our community. Or, you may feel that solutions to hunger and poverty should not require a lot of money or resources. Regardless of your reason for supporting the fight against hunger in your community, all of those purposes summarize the Community Harvest mission - “We are the simple and common sense way to help others.”

Community Harvest was created in 1989 by the Tri-County Restaurant Association and other concerned members of our community with the goal of increasing the involvement of the local restaurant and food service industries by collecting their excess prepared and perishable food and delivering it to community groups serving the homeless and the hungry. Our cornerstone is based on: 1) Providing more children and families access to nutritious food; 2) Providing a sustainable, community-led solution to end hunger in our community; and 3) Providing solutions to hunger and poverty that do not require a lot of money or resources, especially in a country with 40% food waste.

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors,
we borrow it from our children.”

As the only Prepared and Perishable Food Rescue Program in NE Ohio, Community Harvest is the front-runner in the food rescue space, serving as a “link” for nearly 100 local restaurants, caterers, grocery stores, farmers, and hospital kitchens to donate their unused and healthy food to thirty-two community-based organizations in Stark County. Community Harvest is the main source of food for several of these hot meal sites and soup kitchens, delivering roughly $1.6 million in food and 1 million meals annually. With over 50 million Americans going to bed hungry each night and a staggering $100 billion in food waste annually, Community Harvest continues to be a solution to poverty and hunger that makes the most sense for our community.

I encourage you to think of Community Harvest during your holiday giving. Although food rescue may not evoke “warm fuzzy” visions in terms of providing holiday cheer, please be mindful of the thirty-two hot meal programs, shelters, after school programs, and soup kitchens who receive $1.6 million in food from Community Harvest annually. They, in turn, provide bedded nights, warm meals, backpacks for kids, and other resources for those who desperately need them as a result of our reliable food donations to them at no cost.

Community Harvest has a 97% service-ratio. Our program is executed entirely by a team of volunteers and a staff of only one to run the office. The money generated through our fundraising efforts is spent almost entirely on what we do best – delivering as much nutritious food as possible to those who need it. If you have already donated this year, we are thankful for your support! If you have not yet supported the Community Harvest Annual Fund Drive, we would be extremely grateful for your year-end tax deductible donation today.

Warmest Wishes for a Wonderful Holiday,

Faith Barbato
Executive Director

Online

Or

Send Donations (Payable to Community Harvest) to: 
Community Harvest 
4915 Fulton Drive NW; Unit 7 
Canton, OH 44718