Helping Harvest

Helping Harvest has continued to successfully fulfill its mission “to feed the hungry” since opening in 1983. In our first year, 500,000 pounds of food was distributed to 12 food assistance programs to provide nourishment for the low-income sector of our community. Today, we provide food and other resources to 350+ partner agencies in our two-county service area. This network consists of traditional food assistance programs such as food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters. Additionally, we operate several highly effective direct service programs. As the sole distribution center for food assistance in Berks and Schuylkill Counties, Helping Harvest is vital to the health of our community, housing an ever-rotating inventory of refrigerated, fresh, and frozen foods as well as other grocery store items. Our current offerings consist of more than 40% fresh or frozen nutritious foods. In 2024, Helping Harvest distributed more than 10.5 million pounds of nourishment to people in need, and to the organizations that provide service to them. Food from our distribution center, our organization nourishes over 200,000 individuals throughout Berks and Schuylkill Counties each year.

Here at Helping Harvest, our mission is to feed the hungry. We have been able to accomplish our mission by distributing food through 350 of programs and agencies that help us feed our neighbors! Our distribution center, located at 117 Morgan Drive in Reading, PA houses hundreds of thousands of pounds of food, and is also one of the main locations our volunteers help us at! In 2024, our volunteers spent the equivalent of our organization having 15 additional full time staff members! So we are always looking for volunteers to help us pack, sort, and bag donations, as well as distribute them in our community directly!