Harvesters Food Bank Kansas City

New Site Can Be Retrofitted To Meet Nonprofit’s Needs

Harvesters checked out dozens of potential properties in Topeka, Davis said. None could effectively meet its needs. Many lacked sufficient ceiling height.

Eventually, Harvesters decided to look at a broader geographic area.

“That opened up more opportunities” and led to Harvesters’ eventually identifying the Lawrence property that will become its new northeast Kansas warehouse and office, Davis said.

The new location has more office space and warehouse space than the Topeka site does, providing more than 75,000 square feet of space, he said.

The new location wasn’t built as a food bank but can be retrofitted to meet Harvesters’ needs, Davis said.

Harvesters won’t receive any economic development incentives to relocate to the new site, he said.

Tim Hrenchir can be reached at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

Meals Available In Kansas City/raytown/independence

FOOD/GRAB & GO MEALS

3936 Troost Ave. Kansas City, MO 64109Lunch: Monday – Friday 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.Dinner: Monday – Friday 4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Independence Boulevard Christian Church606 Gladstone Blvd. Kansas City, MO 64124Dinner sack meals: Monday 5:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m.

Hope Faith705 Virginia Ave. Kansas City, MO 64106Breakfast: Monday – Saturday 8:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m.Lunch: Monday-Saturday 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Morning Glory Ministries1112 Broadway Blvd. Kansas City, MO 64105Breakfast: Tuesday – Friday 7:15 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.Lunch: Saturdays & Sundays 12:00 p.m.12:30 p.m.

Neighbor2Neighbor3551 Wabash Kansas City, MO 64109Sack meals: Monday – Friday 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

KC Community Kitchen750 The Paseo Blvd. Kansas City, MO 64106Lunch: Monday – Friday. 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

Salvation Army3013 E 9th St. Kansas City, MO 64124Lunch: Monday – Thursday: 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Thelmas Kitchen3101 Troost Kansas City, MO 64109Lunch: Monday – Friday 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Donate-what-you-can at the To-Go window. ORDER ONLINE and pick up right here at 31st St. & Troost Ave. Healthy, local, seasonal food is used in Box Lunches. Volunteers are used to the maximum extent possible to staff the café, a non-profit. It is an initiative of RECONCILIATION SERVICES and integrated into a continuum of care with embedded case managers referring to RS Social & Mental Health Services.

Harvesters Has Various Specific Needs Including Storage Space

Upon learning the viaduct project would force it to move, Harvesters initially considered building a new headquarters and office building in Topeka, Davis said. It looked at a vacant piece of land in North Topeka, which turned out to have flooding issues.

Harvesters eventually concluded it wouldn’t be financially viable to “build from the ground up,” and decided to find an existing property it could renovate, Davis said.

But Harvesters found it difficult to find a place that could accommodate all of the various “unique needs” it has, he said.

One of those is for “massive” storage space, Davis said.

The site at 215 S.E. Quincy encompasses about 45,000 square feet but has very high ceilings, giving it a great deal of “cubic feet” of space in which to store food, is said.

Square footage is calculated by multiplying width by length, while cubic footage is calculated by multiplying width by length by height.

Davis said Harvesters’ needs also include the following:

• To be able to keep large amounts of frozen food and refrigerated food.
• To be in a place where tractor-trailer traffic can come and go easily, meaning the new site couldn’t be in “a neighborhood.”
• Having a building that includes “a dock you can back a truck into.”
• And being able to be out of its Topeka location by June 2024.

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Working With Harvesters To Provide Healthy Food In Kansas City

Food insecurity is a societal issue that affects 1 in 9 people in the United States. In the Kansas City area alone, nearly 14% of the community face food insecurity. Humana, along with Harvesters The Community Food Network, and Health Resources by Humana, are addressing food insecurity through unique partnerships, in close collaboration with physicians and community partners.

The latest partnership with Harvesters involves distributing healthy food through Health Resources by Humana and clinics located inside Walgreens stores in the Kansas City region. The clinic staff already screen for food insecurity and can refer people to a food pantry or help with a SNAP application. Through this process, the dietitians and clinic staff quickly identified a need for immediate nutrition assistance. Together, we developed a program for Harvesters to provide shelf-stable healthy food kits for distribution through clinics within Walgreens, including Health Resources by Humana.

Read the press release here.

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Harvesters In The 1990s

In the early 1990s, Harvesters service area increased from 5 to 13 counties, while distributing more than 9.6 million pounds of food. In 1992, Check-Out Hunger was created, and became a flagship program. The grocery coupon scanning program included 148 retail stores and raised $78,000 in its first year. Other special events were added in 1997, including Forks & Corks, Chefs Classic, and the Quisenberry-Harvesters Celebrity Golf Classic. By the end of the decade, distribution had grown to 14 million pounds of food a year.

Harvesters Community Food Network To Move Kansas Distribution Facility From Topeka To Northwest Lawrence

Harvesters Community Food Network’s main facility in Kansas City, Missouri, is pictured Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022. The nonprofit is relocating its smaller distribution facility in Topeka to Lawrence.

Harvesters Community Food Network is moving its Topeka distribution facility to northwest Lawrence.

Harvesters, a regional Feeding America food bank, is purchasing a property at 1220 Timberedge Road and plans to begin operating there by June of 2024 the nonprofits president and CEO, Stephen Davis, told the Journal-World last week that he expected to close the sale by late December. The property is in the industrial area just north of the Kansas Turnpike, across from Standard Beverage Corporations facility.

Harvesters is based out of Kansas City, Missouri, and serves a 26-county area across northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas, including Douglas and Shawnee counties. The nonprofit provides food and household products to more than 760 nonprofit agencies across that service area, and 53 of them such as agencies like Just Food are in Douglas County. It operates two distribution facilities: the one moving from Topeka, and a larger-scale facility in Kansas City.

So the search began. Davis said that initially Harvesters was hoping to stay in Topeka or Shawnee County, but found after looking into dozens of properties that the search area needed to be expanded. Thats because some specific elements are required for the agencys distribution facilities.

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Harvesters In The 2010s

In January 2010, Harvesters became a partner and beneficiary of a popular new event, Kansas City Restaurant Week, which raised $56,000 in its first year.

In October 2010, Harvesters opened its second distribution center at 215 Southeast Quincy Street in Topeka, Kansas. The new facility helped the food network strengthen services and increase the amount of food available to partner agencies in northeastern Kansas. That year, Harvesters earned the food industrys highest food safety rating, becoming one of only two food banks in the nation to receive a superior rating from AIB International.

The highlight of 2011 came in April, when Harvesters was named Feeding Americas Food Bank of the Year. The award recognized Harvesters as a national role model for using its communitys resources wisely to feed those facing hunger.

In June 2013, long-time President and CEO Karen Haren retired. Following a national search by Harvesters board of directors, Valerie Nicholson-Watson was named her successor.

In late 2019, Harvesters implemented Four Good, a food-tasting event in the Topeka market. This event exceeded fundraising expectations with more than $80,000 raised.

As 2019 came to a close, Harvesters celebrated its 40th anniversary of operation. The Sosland Family and Foundation hosted a special luncheon to thank key long-time supporters of Harvesters mission.

Pantry Gives More Than Food: Individuals Receive Hope And Sustenance

The JFS Food Pantry, with locations in Overland Park, KS and Kansas City, MO, is the communitys response to the growing need for food assistance in Kansas City.

The struggle against hunger and food insecurity continues to grow. In the past year, we have more than doubled the number of families served each month to more than 800 families. JFS distributes food each month to singles, families and older adults. Twenty-five percent of the people served are children under the age of 18. JFS assists people from all walks of life, regardless of religion.

The pantries offer both VAAD-supervised kosher and non-kosher food, with staples such as grains, dairy, protein, fresh fruits and vegetables. Personal care and household items round out the grocery bags since most of those items are not covered by governmental assistance .

Food for cats and dogs is available from our very own Jasmines Corner so pet owners dont have to forgo eating themselves in order to keep their beloved pets fed. Last year 1,275 pets received food from the pantry.

The JFS Food Pantry is an affiliate of the Harvesters Food Networkand a partner agency ofHappy Bottoms, Kansas Citys baby diaper bank.

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Harvesters Has Purchase Agreement In Place For Lawrence Facility

Harvesters will move its Topeka operations to the current Reuter Organ Co. building at 1220 Timber Edge Road, in an industrial park just north of the Kansas Turnpike’s west Lawrence interchange.

A purchase agreement is in place, and Harvesters plans to close on the Lawrence location in December, Davis said.

While the site of Harvesters’ northeast Kansas headquarters will change, the services it provides and the geographic area it serves will not, he said.

Harvesters remains in talks with the Kansas Department of Transportation to sell it the office and warehouse property Harvesters still owns at 215 S.E. Quincy, Davis said.

“We don’t have an agreement to sell this building, but we feel good about where we’re at,” he said.

While it appears unlikely KDOT will pay Harvesters enough for 215 S.E. Quincy to fully cover Harvesters’ costs regarding the Lawrence location, Harvesters should be in a position to make the move without taking on an excessive amount of debt, Davis said.

Nonprofit In 2016 Looked For A New Site In Topeka Then Decided To Stay Put

Harvesters, a nonprofit organization, has served the needy by playing a role in the fight against hunger since it was founded in 1979.

Harvesters collects donations of food placed in barrels at sites that include grocery stores and community food drives, then has volunteers sort and repack the food before trucks deliver it to a network of more than 760 pantries, kitchens and shelters in 10 counties in northwest Missouri and 16 counties in northeast Kansas.

Harvesters has served the Shawnee County area for about 30 years, Davis said.

In 2010, Harvesters began leasing the three-story building at 215 S.E. Quincy and using it as the base for its operations in 13 of the counties it serves in northeast Kansas

Harvesters was continuing to lease that building in 2016, when it began a roughly one-year search aimed at finding a new headquarters site in Topeka, Davis said.

Harvesters wasn’t able to find a new building that could both meet its needs and undergo the necessary renovations, so it bought 215 S.E. Quincy and renovated that building in a manner that enabled it to successfully meet Harvesters’ needs, Davis said.

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Rising Inflation Threatens Kansas City Harvesters Food Supply

A quick look at upcoming Autumn . . . Apparently, those who need help putting food on the table might not be able to turn to this town’s most dependable assistance organization.

Here’s the word . . .

Harvesters Community Food Network said its fuel and food costs are up 33%. Buying Thanksgiving meals this year will cost the pantry about $90,000 more than last year.”We won’t be able to meet 100% of the need that is out there in the community. So, the more generous that the community can be to support us, the more we can get closer to meeting that demand that currently exists,” said Kera Mashek, of Harvesters.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Rising food and fuel costs are hurting families across Kansas City. Harvesters food bank said that demand is rising while its purchasing power is dropping.Volunteers pack bags and fill grocery carts.

Harvesters Food Distribution Fall 2022

September 19, 2022 by DrBruce

Harvesters Food Distribution continues to be scheduled for the next several months* at our KCK Heartland Primary Care location. The Harvesters truck should arrive around 11am-12pm and food distribution will begin after truck unloading .

The KCK Heartland Primary Care office is located at 2040 Hutton Rd., Kansas City, KS 66109

The Harvesters Food Distribution is open to all families in need of food assistance.

*Scheduled Dates:

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North Kansas City Ymca Urban Farm Planted By Humana

To address food insecurity, the Y has partnered with Humana to open a .25 acre Urban Farm at the North Kansas City YMCA. The Urban Farm will provide fresh produce to the community through 10 raised beds, 20 orchard trees and a tunnel greenhouse.

In addition to Humana, the Urban Farm received funding from the American Heart Association and in-kind support from Kansas City Community Gardens, Stuppy Greenhouses, and Fry & Associates, Inc.

The Urban Farm made its initial harvest in Fall 2020, harvesting over 150 pounds of healthy, organic produce. Volunteers and associates will begin planting in March for a summer harvest to begin in May. Harvested food will be distributed to those in need in a variety of ways including supplying food to indoor and mobile food pantries at the North Kansas City YMCA, KC Healthy Kids Program, and other distribution points in the community.

Future plans include increasing the number of garden beds from 10 to more than 50, planting an orchard for fresh fruit, expanding community education programs, helping other Y centers develop their own Urban Farms, and expanding gardening programs for seniors, youth, and families.

For more information on how you can get involved, call 816.300.0531 or email .

Harvesters In The 1980s

Harvesters continued to grow in the new decade, moving into a new building at 2431 Prospect. In 1982 Harvesters distributed one million pounds of food for the first time. In the mid-1980s, Harvesters launched a protein purchase plan to improve nutrition for its patrons, and hired a food drive coordinator to organize food drives with its valuable partners, including corporations, civic and religious organizations, and schools.

In 1989, Harvesters began a new partnership with the USDA, distributing federal commodities to qualifying agencies. It also started the food rescue program to recover excess food from corporate cafeterias, restaurants, and catering companies for use at on-site feeding agencies. In 1989, Harvesters moved again to a larger location at 1811 N. Topping Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri.

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Harvesters In The 2000s

New programs and explosive growth necessitated a successful 11.5 million dollar capital campaign and a search for an even larger location. In 2003, Harvesters moved to the current facility at 3801 Topping Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri. During these years, technology helped Harvesters continue to improve its efficiency and expand its services to its member agencies. In 2003, Harvesters implemented the Harvesters Express online ordering system, enabling agencies to order food products online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In 2004, the BackSnack program, which provides weekly backpacks of nutritious food to elementary students for the weekends, began as a pilot program initially serving 30 students. As the demand for food assistance grew, generous donations helped Harvesters expand the BackSnack program in 2008 to serve 8,000 students a week. Other programs added during this time included Senior Mobile Pantries, the Kids Cafe program to feed children after school and on weekends, and Kids in the Kitchen, a nutrition education program for children. In 2009, Harvesters was designated one of 5 Feeding America regional disaster staging sites. That year, Harvesters President and CEO, Karen Haren, was honored as Feeding Americas Executive Director of the Year.

Harvesters Kansas Distribution Center Will Move To New Location

HarvestersThe Community Food Networks Kansas Distribution Center, currently located in downtown Topeka, Kansas , will move to a new location in Lawrence, Kansas, in 2024.

The move should not change the quality or level of food assistance the center currently provides to its nonprofit partner agencies in Topeka and Shawnee County and the other 12 counties in northeast Kansas that receive food from this facility.Harvesters needs to vacate its current Topeka facility because the building will be demolished as part of the infrastructure project to replace the I-70 Polk-Quincy viaduct.

Harvesters leadership team and Board of Directors were interested in remaining in the Topeka or Shawnee County area, but after an extensive year-long search were unable to find a new property that met the organizations specific needs, including affordable cost, convenient highway access, high ceilings , size , necessary zoning , and availability .

Our number one priority is to our partner agencies and the neighbors they serve, said Stephen Davis, President and CEO of HarvestersThe Community Food Network. It is critical we have no disruption in the distribution of food to the communities we serve.Harvesters is in negotiations with the Kansas Department of Transportation to sell its current property.

Harvesters facility in Kansas City, Missouri will remain where it is, and operations will continue there as they do now.

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