HarborOne’s Harvest for Hunger raises awareness, provides financial support and generates non-perishable food donations for community-based organizations addressing the issue of food insecurity. Since its inception, Harvest for Hunger has invested over $125,000, collected 32,000 non-perishable food items and provided hundreds of volunteer hours in support of food programs and pantries serving its local neighborhoods.
Stephen Hodgman- VP Regional Manager, Retail Banking-HarborOne – 00:02- Harvest for Hunger is a program that has been going for seven years strong here HarborOne, and we make donations to local food pantries to help address the issue of hunger in our community.
Jennifer White – VP Community Relations -President HarborOne Foundation -00:13 -It’s an amazing opportunity to be involved, and it’s an honor to be involved, I think of food I think of it’s not just the nourishment that it provides, but it’s the socialization. It’s the coming together. And really, it’s the building of community.
Meghan Grady – Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island – 00:28 –Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island is much more than just a meal. We’re a life saving safety check and an opportunity for socialization. Each weekday we serve 1500 older adults statewide, who are homebound and unable to shop or prepare their own food.
SH – 00:45 -We’re thrilled to provide donation to Meals on Wheels Rhode Island to be able to give back to the community and help their efforts to support delivering meals to 1500 seniors per day.
MG – 00:56 – Our clients told us the Meals on Wheels volunteer is the only person I’m seeing right now, and so it helped them rest assured that they would not only be receiving a nutritious meal, but a safety check and a friendly face at the other side of the door during a very difficult and scary time for all of us.
SH – 01:14 – Not just about the food. It’s about the connection. It’s about the personalization and the interaction that folks are able to get around the table.
Andrew Schiff – Rhode Island Community Food Bank – 01:22 So right after the outbreak of COVID-19, we saw an almost overwhelming number of people in need of food assistance across the state. The number of people that we’re serving now is little over 50,000 people each month as folks face higher heating oil bills in the late fall and winter, we’re gonna see those numbers climb.
JW – 01:45 – We’re here in New England, the weather’s getting colder, people are sort of hunkering down. This can be a very lonely or isolating time of year, and it’s especially important that HarborOne shows its commitment to community, and it’s really important for us to step up.
AS – 02:00 -It’s a lot of people coming for food assistance, and our job is to ensure that no one is ever turned away who needs help.
JW – 02:09 – HarborOne really tries to do this sort of financial commitment. But we also like to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
AS – 02:17 – One of the things that happened during COVID Is the food is pre bagged, pre boxed, and so volunteers are really important to making up those boxes so that we can get the food that we have here right out to people in need. And some of the boxes are for kids. Some of the boxes are food that’s specially made for senior adults. Having volunteers back in the building again, just gives us great hope that we’re on the road back to normal.
SH – 02:46 – What makes HarborOne special is the fact that we are involved in the communities that we live in working year round. And this time of year is particularly important with the holidays and being able to make sure that we have a dedicated program to help provide food and nutrition to the communities that we live in.
03:02 – HarborOne has been an amazing supporter here today volunteering, they are also generous funders of the food bank.
MG – 03:10 – Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island is incredibly thankful to have received a very generous investment from HarborOne’s Harvest for Hunger campaign.
SH – 03:19 – Donor dollars are really important because those allow us to purchase food bring in the 15 million pounds of food that we need each year to provide to people in need and Rhode Island.
MG – 03:30 – With these important dollars, it will help us you know increase our impact in the community and continue to serve 1500 clients each weekday.
JW – 03:40 – A big thank you in appreciation for those organizations and those staff members of those organizations working on the frontlines serving our most vulnerable populations. We’re proud to be associated with them and we’re proud to invest in their work.
