Vision for 2025 and beyond

2025 marks Helping Harvest's 15th anniversary! That's 15 years of stepping into the gap between food pantries and for-profit grocers to help struggling families get relief from high food prices. We're very proud of this accomplishment, but have future plans that will make this program work even harder for those in need. Among these plans include:

1. Open Helping Harvest for longer hours. 

Helping Harvest is open 24 hours each week (Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat 10-2 and Wed, Fri 2-6). While these hours are far greater than any food pantry in the area, we know we could better serve vulnerable families if we could be open regular business hours, including Sundays when many people grocery shop. 

2. Offer free delivery service to shut-ins or families with who lack transportation. 

There is no bus service in rural Ravena, Coeymans and Selkirk. Taxi or other car services are sparse and too expensive for low-income families. So is grocery delivery service. We envision the capability to deliver groceries for free to struggling families in the future. 

3. Offer nutrition education opportunities. 

Cooking at home is the best way to save money and eat healthy, yet many families lack the skills to prepare meals at home. We envision a future where we engage with our families to help get them better nutrition using easy recipes and low-cost, common ingredients that can be found right at Helping Harvest. 

If you share our vision for the future of the Center and Helping Harvest, please become a donor. Financial resources have always been the chief limiting factor in our ability to move beyond the service we offer now. We look forward to continuing our efforts to fight food insecurity in southern Albany County for many years to come.