Mission
The mission of Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana, Inc. is to alleviate hunger through the full use of donated food and other resources and to increase public awareness of and involvement in our mission.
Vision
Community Harvest Food Bank seeks to be a dynamic, responsive and charitable leader in the effort to alleviate hunger and its causes in our service area.
Our Organization:
Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana, Inc. was incorporated in 1983 as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization by a group of business, religious, and government leaders in the wake of major factory shutdowns. Throughout our nearly 30 year history, we have distributed over 140 million pounds of food and grocery products throughout Allen, Adams, DeKalb, Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wells, and Whitley counties.
Community Harvest Food Bank is the largest hunger relief organization in northeast Indiana, annually distributing over ten million pounds of food.
Community Harvest Food Bank collects wholesome surplus food and grocery products donated by the food industry – products that might otherwise go to a landfill – and utilizes it for hunger relief.
In an average week, we distribute over 170,000 pounds of food throughout our nine county service area – enough to feed 21,100 people with six meals.
Community Harvest Food Bank maintains a supply of food to be ready to respond with emergency food assistance in the event of a natural or other disaster.
Community Harvest Food Bank is the only area member of Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization.
Our food helps churches and human service agencies in our member agency network, serving up to 90,000 unduplicated clients annually throughout our nine county service area. These agencies include food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, rehabilitation centers, and youth and senior citizen programs.
In addition to our agency distribution, we operate seven direct service programs grouped into 3 key initiatives:
Child Hunger Initiative: includes Kids Cafe® (after school feeding program at established youth organizations and churches located in low-income areas), the Summer Feeding program and the BackPack program (take-home food for children on weekends and holidays).
Feeding Seniors Initiative: includes SeniorPak (bi-weekly grocery delivery for homebound, limited income seniors).
Healthy Families Initiative: includes Farm Wagon (a mobile fresh produce and perishables pantry serving low-income neighborhoods), Community Cupboard (our on-site pantry which provides direct food assistance to clients referred by other not-for-profits, originated at Community Harvest and replicated throughout the country), Holiday Meals (turkeys & trimmings for those who would otherwise do without) and Crisis Assistance (offering emergency food assistance).
Community Harvest Food Bank is non-governmental, non-sectarian and is not a United Way member agency. Funding comes from various sources: individuals, corporations, organizations, grants, government funding, member agency contributions, special fundraising events, and bequests.
Volunteers of all ages help with the labor intensive work of food banking, saving Community Harvest thousands of dollars in labor costs each year.
Hunger in America 2010 Northeast Indiana Findings:
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More than 90,000 different people receive emergency food from Community Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Indiana each year.
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An estimated 21,100 different people receive emergency food each week.
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45% of the members of households served by CHFB are children under 18 years of age.
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5% of the members of households served by CHFB are elderly.
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74% of client households are experiencing very low food security—or hunger.
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62% of clients are non-Hispanic white, 23% are non-Hispanic black, 11% are Hispanic, and the rest are from other racial groups.
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39% of households include at least one employed adult.
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71% had incomes below the federal poverty level during the previous month.
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44% of clients served by CHFB report having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel.
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40% had to choose between paying for food and paying their rent or mortgage.
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35% had to choose between paying for food and paying for medicine or medical care.
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39% had to choose between paying for food and paying for transportation.
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28% of client households are receiving SNAP (food stamps) benefits.
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64% of households with children ages 0-3 participate in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program.
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Among households with school-age children, 74% participate in the federal school lunch program.
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30% of households report having at least one household member in poor health.
