Forgotten Harvest delivers 138,000 pounds of surplus food per day, to local charities six days a week, providing families in need with fresh and nutritious food free of charge. All the food we rescue is delivered to metro Detroit families who are food-insecure and struggle to cover the cost of basic life necessities. Our food helps bridge the income gap for tens of thousands of people, allowing them to secure some basic life necessities for themselves and their families.

Make an impact on our programs by volunteering or donating.

Interested in making a bigger impact and sponsoring a program?
Contact Maureen Smith, Director of Corporate Relations at: msmith@forgottenharvest.org.

 

 

*At this time most programs have reached capacity, please consult the program director for specifics, availability and requirements. Contact info at the bottom of page.

Grocery Rescue

The innovative grocery rescue program presented
by the Kroger Co. Zero Hunger Zero Waste Foundation is fundamental to the mission of Forgotten Harvest.

Mobile Pantry & FH On-the-Go

The Forgotten Harvest mobile pantry program addresses the need to get more nutritious fresh food into the diets of food-insecure residents in high-poverty, under-served metro Detroit neighborhoods.

Volunteer Rescue Team

The Forgotten Harvest volunteer program recruits and manages the work of over 15,000 volunteers annually who provide more than 71,000 hours of service critical to the success of the mission. Their service allows Forgotten Harvest to accept tractor-trailer loads of fresh food, often packed in 700 lb. totes, and repack that food into individual and family-sized quantities, making it ready for distribution.

Harvest Heroes - Volunteer Rescue Team

Forgotten Harvest trucks traverse the metro Detroit community five days a week, rescuing food from various sources, but some pickup requests are too small to send a box truck — that’s where Harvest Heroes comes to the rescue.

School Pantry

The school pantry program enables Forgotten Harvest to target distribution to vulnerable families with children where they are already gathering — at agencies with early childhood education programs and schools.

Summer Lunch

The summer lunch program provides healthy lunches to metro Detroit children who need emergency food during the summer when they lose access to school-provided meal programs. On average, Forgotten Harvest provides approximately 100,000 lunches to over 20,000 children throughout metro Detroit every summer. Distribution is targeted to key community partners with the most significant number of at-risk children.

Youth Snack

Since 2012, Forgotten Harvest’s youth snack program has provided nutritious snacks to kids from kindergarten to high school attending afterschool and summer educational programs at enrichment programs throughout metro Detroit. The snacks encourage children and teens to attend programming to receive help with school work and participate in various educational programs.

USDA Child Nutrition – SFSP/CACFP

The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) was created to ensure that children (under the age of 18) in lower-income areas continue to receive nutritious meals during summer vacations when they do not have access to the National School Lunch or School Breakfast Programs.

Hope for the Holidays

During the December holiday season, Forgotten Harvest and a team of volunteers will create nearly 6,000 meal boxes, feeding up to 20,000 people throughout metro Detroit. The holiday meals are distributed to partners in areas of high food insecurity.

Healthy Food Healthy Seniors

Forgotten Harvest’s food rescue program addresses the critical need to increase access to nutritious fresh food for low-income metro Detroit seniors.

Veteran Support Program

Those who have served our country bravely shouldn’t be forced to endure the agony of not knowing if they can feed their family. Feeding America reports that 160,000 families of active military personnel faced food insecurity in 2018- 2019.

Forgotten Harvest Farms

Forgotten Harvest Farms is situated on 95 acres of donated land in Fenton with an annual yield goal of approximately 500,000 lbs. of fresh, healthy produce.

For more information regarding any one of these programs, please contact Kelly McEvoy, Director of Food Programs at: kmcevoy@forgottenharvest.org.