Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana, Inc.

Community Harvest Food Bank aligns its goals with the mission to alleviate hunger. Goals include:

- Increase access to fresh fruits, vegetables, and healthy foods
- Improve overall health and wellbeing through healthy food access
- Immediate reduction in the level of hunger through programs and community outreach
- Provide a stable resource of food to vulnerable and at-risk populations in need
- Work with community members and partners to identify needs and gaps in service in order to create/modify programs to meet those needs

In addition to partnerships with nearly 400 regional nonprofit member agencies, Community Harvest Food Bank operates several in-house hunger relief programs including:

• Community Cupboard food pantry - a uniquely designed pantry to resemble a grocery "shop"
• Saturday Helping Hands - a weekly public distribution open to the public with no sign-up required
• Farm Wagon mobile pantry program - a program that brings food to all nine counties of the food bank's service region to distribute fresh produce, dairy, and other available food items to anyone in need
• Kids BackPack/TeenPak - these two programs provide weekend food to kids and teens without food access
• Kids Café & Summer Feeding - Community Harvest operates these two USDA programs to provide prepared meals to kids in need during the week
• SeniorPak - provides nutritious foods to seniors who are both mobile and medically homebound
• Hope for Heroes - provides nine months of grocery assistance to Veterans and military families
• Crisis Assistance - provides emergency food on a walk-in basis to individuals and families in need

In our ongoing efforts to obtain fresh, locally-grown produce for distribution, Community Harvest continues to partner with local farmers, obtaining a combination of purchased and donated fresh produce for distribution to families. Nearly 1/3 of the food bank's overall distribution is fresh produce, demonstrating its focus on providing quality, nutritious foods to vulnerable populations.

Community Harvest Food Bank has remained sustainable since its 1983 beginnings. Because of our transparent reporting and responsible use of funding, programs attract funding and support from a variety of contributors. Even during the recession following the 2008 financial crisis, and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Community Harvest continued to grow to meet the increased demand of food, distributing more food to the hungry year over year.

We continue to rate the highest four-star designation on Charity Navigator, a national organization that rates charities based on responsible financial decisions and transparent reporting. We are proud to say that 98% of our total income is allocated directly to programs instead of administrative or fundraising expenses. We also maintain an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, meeting all 20 Standards for Charity Accountability. Lastly, we maintain a GuideStar charity profile to demonstrate our commitment to transparency.

Notable Accomplishments:

Our biggest reward for 2020 has been the ability to serve everyone in need, and do the right thing by keeping people fed. We did not receive any awards or special recognition, but that is likely true for thousands of community members and organizations also out there doing their best to help in different ways. We’re lucky to do what we do, and we’ll be here to fulfill our mission even when COVID is a distant memory.

Hunger relief is our mission, but we are so very passionate about it on a personal level. Some who work at and work with the food bank also have lived experiences of hunger, an experience which shows when their compassion for others shines through. We often see people who want to “pay it forward,” whether it is because they’ve received help in the past from the food bank, or they know someone who has struggled. The experience of not having enough to eat is something that stays with a person forever, and the outcomes of these experiences can have lasting effects, both positive and negative. We take these things to heart, and we share our compassion with individuals and families coming to us for help – sometimes with a feeling of shame, sometimes for the first time, sometimes in desperation. By our efforts to give them a positive experience, we are not only treating them with dignity and respect, but will leave a lasting positive impact that will stay with them long after the struggle is over.

We will continue our progress toward our goals:

1. Immediate and measurable reduction in food insecurity
2. Improvement in overall health and quality of life among clients facing hardship
3. Improvement in the ability of clients to select healthier foods when the household is stabilized, through client education on eating choices, including cooking demonstrations by partners such as the Purdue Extension Office