POTTSVILLE, Pa. – Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank announced it now has a presence in every school in Pottsville as it continues to improve and increase its reach to vulnerable populations in Schuylkill County.
“At Helping Harvest, we have a focus on supporting children during their peak brain development years, basically from the time they are in the womb through middle and high school,” said Helping Harvest President Jay Worrall. “The Weekender and School Pantry programs are critical supports to this focus, and I am ecstatic that we are expanding our reach to the populations most in need of food assistance in Schuylkill County, including young learners.”
The Weekender Program supplies a bag of easy to prepare meals and snacks for students to eat over the weekend when the school cafeteria isn’t an option. It’s offered at John S. Clark Elementary in the Pottsville Area School District, at the Pottsville and Pottsville 2 Head Start centers run by Child Development, Inc., and at Gillingham Charter School. In 2025, 51,575 Weekender bags were distributed at 19 sites throughout Schuylkill County, which included 175,584 lbs. of food valued at $487,799.
The School Pantry Program offers middle and high school students and their families food assistance in a familiar environment. The program is now present at D.H.H. Lengel Middle School in the form of their Crimson Cabinet, and Pottsville High School also has a school pantry. In 2025, 7,195 lbs. of food valued at $15,578 were distributed at Schuylkill County school pantries. There is also a school pantry in Minersville, and the Hurricane Cabinet at the Schuylkill Haven Area Middle School opened this school year.
More information on the Weekender and School Pantry programs is available on Helping Harvest’s Youth Programs page.