The mission of the Harvest Hope Food Bank is to provide for the needs of hungry people by gathering and sharing quality food with dignity, compassion and education. Begun as an Emergency Food Box program in 1981 by a group of citizens concerned with feeding their hungry neighbors, Harvest Hope Food Bank is a 501(c)3 non profit organization with a mission of ending local hunger through shared community involvement.
Harvest Hope today is a regional food distribution organization that collects, stores, and distributes food and related items that assist families and children throughout 20 counties in central South Carolina. From simple beginnings, Harvest Hope has grown into a regional distribution organization providing food, comfort and hope to millions of hungry individuals and families in the Midlands, Pee Dee and Greater Greenville regions of South Carolina, serving almost half the state. With over 25 years of service as a hunger relief agency, we have developed an enormous efficient distribution operation and established a successful business model that identifies and meets an increasing demand for service.
Harvest Hope Food Bank served 2,037,496 individuals throughout our service area in fiscal year 2010, a 15% increase over the previous year. Regionally, Harvest Hope increased its service to families in the Pee Dee by 8%, to families in the Columbia region by 24% and to families in rural areas of Greenville by 49%. To assist in distributing food to the increasing numbers of hungry people across our service area, Harvest Hope partners with 476 member non-profit agencies coordinating efforts to identify communities suffering from hunger and to provide food to the needy. Harvest Hope Food Bank is headquartered in a 40,000 square foot facility in Columbia that operates as the food bank’s primary warehouse and distribution center, administrative center and agency distribution hub for our 20-county service area. Harvest Hope expanded its Greenville operations by moving into an 80,000 square foot facility in September of 2010, which will allow the company to dramatically increase its shipping and receiving operations in the Greater Greenville Area and potentially throughout its entire 20 county service area. Harvest Hope Food Bank is a proud partner with Feeding America, the largest charitable hunger relief organization in the United States. We are also a member of the South Carolina Food Bank Association and distribute USDA product. Find out more about hunger in South Carolina.