Harvesters Community Food Bank

Mission

In the late 1970s, immense amounts of nutritious food were being thrown into landfills even as Kansas City struggled to fight hunger among its citizens. Grocery stores were forced to dispose of food whose “sell by” date was approaching or which did not meet manufacturers quality or branding standards. There was no system in place for getting that food to the people who needed it. In February 1979, a coalition of business people, faith leaders, and social service agencies came together to forge a solution. That day, Harvesters-The Community Food Network, was born.

Harvesters provides food and related household products to more than 760 nonprofit agencies including emergency food pantries, community kitchens, homeless shelters, children’s homes and others. We also offer education programs to increase community awareness of hunger and teach about good nutrition.

Harvesters is a certified member of Feeding America, a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks. In 2011, Harvesters was Feeding America’s Food Bank of the Year. We are a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

Organization Information