YOUTH PROGRAMS

Approximately 1 in 5 children in our area do not have access to adequate, healthy food. Helping Harvest offers three youth programs to help fill that gap: the Weekender Program, Healthy Sprouts and the School Pantry Program. Find out more about each of these programs below.

WEEKENDER PROGRAM

Three adults load bags with healthy non-perishable items

The Weekender Program addresses childhood hunger by sending a bag of healthy, non-perishable food home with students who are food insecure on Fridays to ensure they are nourished over the weekend.

Currently, Helping Harvest supports nearly 90 program sites throughout Berks and Schuylkill counties providing over 4,000 bags weekly. Helping Harvest distributed over 128,000 weekender bags during 2024.

Helping Harvest is actively seeking funding to support this program to continue serving children. If you would like to support the Weekender Program, please make a donation.

Food drives to support the Weekender Program are also always welcome. You can download a list of needed items.

HEALTHY SPROUTS

A young woman hands bags of produce to school-aged girls

Healthy Sprouts (formerly named Produce 4 Kids), originally piloted in March 2010, provides a bag of fresh foods to children in need in the City of Reading. More than 1 million pounds of nutritious fruits, vegetables and dairy items have been distributed since its inception.

SCHOOL PANTRY PROGRAM

Shelves stocked with food beside a refrigerator in a school

Helping Harvest began piloting a School Pantry Program in 2024, directed towards middle and high school students and their families. School pantries assist students experiencing food insecurity at school by providing healthy, student-friendly food choices that they can select for themselves. School panties allow students and their families to access food in a familiar environment.