Harvest of Hope Pantry, a Boulder-based nonprofit dedicated to providing food to those in need, has introduced a choice model for their clients called “Your Choice Service,” designed to provide more agency in the food they receive.
The “Your Choice Service” allows clients to choose from a complete list of foods available in the pantry, which is updated daily.
“We took the various categories of food that we already had and made a list,” Harvest of Hope Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator Ben Mensch said. “Our operations manager Derek (Rusnak) makes a list every morning of the food that’s available today, and then we’re able to present that as a take-away menu for folks who are pulling up front.”
Harvest of Hope began in 2012 “with the sole mission of food assistance,” according to a news release about the program. In 2019, the organization provided over 3,300 Boulder residents with food. Harvest of Hope is the lowest barrier program in Boulder, meaning that anybody who comes to them is able to receive food.
“Something that’s always been at the root of our mission is ensuring that people accessing food in the pantry feel empowered and they have their dignity in our shopping model,” Executive Director Riley Bright said. “So rather than just handing someone a box of stuff and saying ‘okay, this is what you get,’ it’s really empowering them to make choices based on the food that we have.”
The choice model, Bright added, also reduces food waste.
“If you give someone a box of food and it’s not food that is either culturally relevant or in line with their diet restrictions, they’re not going to eat it,” Bright said. “So that just furthers food waste in this country rather than allowing someone to pick and choose what they get to eat.”
The new service is only available for households with kitchens, as the demand from clients without kitchens is too high to fulfill special orders. There are no plans currently to make this available to clients without kitchens, Mensch said, but it may be able to be implemented “on a more limited basis.”
Mensch said that pantries both locally and nationally have reached out to inquire about Harvest of Hope’s choice model and Harvest of Hope is happy to oblige.
“We want to make sure that people who need food are getting served in the best way possible, whether that’s here or somewhere else,” Mensch said.
Bright also lauded Harvest of Hope’s staff and volunteers “for working during this difficult time and being on the front lines.”
Households with kitchens can receive free groceries from Harvest of Hope once a week from 9-11 a.m. Monday through Friday and 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday. Those without kitchens can pick up a bag of ready-to-eat items daily from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. More information is available at hopepantry.org.
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June 07, 2020 at 10:02PM
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Harvest of Hope Pantry launches “Your Choice Service” - Boulder Daily Camera
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