Harvest of Hope
JJSB Donates To Harvest of Hope
Backpack donation in 2022
Lyter Collects 3000 Food Items!
Rotary Club of Montoursville Donates Generously
Williamsport Home Helps with Packing
Representative Joe Hamm visits Harvest of Hope
Aspire Wealth Group
Thanks for your donation
Kiwanis Food Drive
Food drive for Backpack program
Montoursville State Police
Food Donation
Rotary Club of Montoursville
Thanks for your support and donation!
JSSB Provides Gift
Save A Lot provides food to Harvest of Hope
Backpack Event
Community Volunteers
Lilly's Bake Sale
Donated profits to Harvest of Hope
Roos Outback
Wonderful donation
Harvest of Hope
We are currently following the COVID-19 requirements. The Fresh Express program continues the second Thursday of every month; however, we distribute the food as cars drive by. We are currently supplying the schools with backpack food items to supplement weekend food.
Fresh Express is open every 2nd Thursday of the month from 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM. Volunteers assist with this program every 2nd Thursday of the month from 1:00 PM - 5:30 PM utilizing 2 hour shifts for set up, sorting, distribution and clean up. The Backpack program packs food every 3rd Thursday of the month from 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM during the school year. The backpack supply team meets the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM. The backpack set up team meets every 3rd Tuesday of the month from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM.
Harvest of Hope is now celebrating our fourth year! Although the dream and seed of this project began about 5 years ago, we could not have imagined the rate of its growth. The community involvement from the schools, organizations, businesses and churches has been a blessing. The stories that we have been privileged to hear warm our hearts! With that being said, we have a long way to go to meet the needs of the community. We are currently serving 120 students in the Montoursville School District with weekend supplemental food. We have approximately 550 students that qualify for this food. We are working on a financial plan to increase the number of students to meet this need. We serve approximately 75 families with our Fresh Express program. If you are interested in being part of helping financially please see "How to Help".
Our Backpack program is organized so that a child in need will receive one bag of food every Friday during the school year. In that bag they receive 2 entrees, 2 breakfast items, 1 vegetable, 1 fruit and 2 snacks along with a special item on holidays.
We have 12 churches committed to help us with food donations for the backpack program as it functions purely from donations. We are so blessed to have this community group effort. We have received food donations from school events and personal food donations. If you would like to donate please see "How to Help".
Our Fresh Express program receives a delivery of fresh and nutritious items in the morning from the Central PA Food Bank. We open our doors later that day for families to shop for their groceries. A hospitality team welcomes the families and provides them with snacks. The initial paperwork is completed as required by the State for statistics.
Thank you for your interest in the Harvest of Hope and we look forward to meeting you in some way in the future.
Sharon Atherholt Jane Zimmerer
Co-Chair Harvest of Hope Co-Chair Harvest of Hope
We were graciously given a Grant from the Plankenhorn Foundation, and Easter Collections from our members that allowed us to begin construction. We tore down walls, ripped up carpet, replaced flooring, painted walls, updated plumbing and heating. Our church members donated shelves and equipment needed for start up. Through this wonderful journey we have learned many new things, you could say,”You name it and we learned it”. We now have two programs to serve our community including Fresh Express and Back Pack Programs serving students and families in the Montoursville Area.
The Backpack Program is currently serving 120 students with weekend bags of food that are disbursed every Friday during the school year. We pack once a month so we are packing 480 bags in one evening. We pack the third Thursday of every month from 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM from September through May. This is supported by volunteers and the community's donation to this program.
Backpacking Event 
The Fresh Express Program provides families in Montoursville with fresh and nutritious food. The food is delivered to us from the Central PA Food Bank and disbursed to families monthly every second Thursday from 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM.
We now operate with 12 community churches donating food each month. Many organizations that have donated food, money or time volunteering include the following: Plankenhorn Foundation, Jersey Shore State Bank, The American Legion, Rotary Club, Outback Roos, and Montoursville schools. Our leadership and finance committees are preparing us for future needs and ongoing programs. Approximately 100 volunteers are needed each month to make sure well needed food goes out our doors. Our church members are tireless with their weekly food donations and volunteer services. Community volunteers at our backpacking events include the American Legion, Jersey Shore State Bank, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Rotary Club, Community church members, along with MAHS Honor Society, Key Club, Star Club, guidance counselors and the Baseball Team.