VERO BEACH — Harvest Food & Outreach is pleased to announce it has received a $50k grant from the Indian River Community Foundation to expand the organization’s Community Resource and Education Program designed to offer struggling families support, education, and life skills to break the cycle of poverty.
Harvest Food & Outreach Center currently offers three distinct educational programs, including:
Children’s Summer Read and Feed Program, which was designed to offer a holistic approach to battling food insecurity while decreasing summer learning loss in households with school aged children. Program participants receive healthy, shelf stable breakfast and lunch items for their household throughout the summer as well as two grade-level appropriate books per week.
The Passport to Prosperity Program, which provides essential educational and goal setting pieces for adults, addressing the root causes of poverty and food insecurity. Participants attend on-site workshops and educational opportunities, including on-the-job training activities for a 12-week period, with the ultimate goal of becoming self-sustaining and becoming less reliant on government assistance.
Food for Thought Program, which was especially designed to assist those unable to participate in the Passport to Prosperity Program. Participants attend on-site classes and receive credits which allow them to “shop” in Harvest Food’s emergency food pantry, meeting both their emergency food needs and helping them to gain the tools needed to achieve and maintain self-sufficiency.
“We anticipate being able to serve an additional 200 individuals as a result of this grant,” said Austin Hunt, founder of Harvest Food & Outreach Center. “We’ll be able to eliminate many of the barriers that prevent people from getting help, such as childcare issues, and will be able to offer the various programs year-round.”
The $50k grant was awarded by the Indian River Community Foundation through a competitive grants program designed to address time-sensitive community needs intensified by the recent economic recession.
Kerry Bartlett, Executive Director of the Indian River Community Foundation, said her Board of Directors appreciated the opportunity to help Harvest Food & Outreach double the number of families it serves.
“A record number of Indian River County families are facing poverty, either generational or resulting from the recent economic decline,” Bartlett said. “It’s important these families have access not only to immediate relief, but training and support that will help them reverse their circumstances.”
Harvest Food’s mission is to provide a hand up for those in need, helping them to break free from poverty by offering hunger relief, crisis care, transformative education, and employment training opportunities.
They have two campuses in Vero Beach and serve over 350 families a day from those campuses.
For more information about the services offered by Harvest Food, call (772) 770-2665 or visit them online at IRC.HarvestFoodOutreach.org.
