Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank is coming off a record year for distributing food, and officials see nothing to indicate that demand will slow down.
The organization that serves Berks and Schuylkill counties through a network of more than 350 partner agencies distributed 12,483,834 pounds of food valued at more than $22 million during fiscal year 2026, officials said. The figure represents a 21.8% increase over the prior fiscal year.
“We believe the lingering effects of inflation coupled with the very high fuel prices are sending more people to food pantries to meet their needs,” said Jay Worrall, Helping Harvest president.
Jay Worrall
And he doesn’t expect that to change in the coming fiscal year.
“We are on pace to distribute close to 14 million pounds, and see nothing on the horizon that would lead us to believe that demand will not continue to increase,” he said.
Those 2026 figures reflect a sustained demand for food assistance across the region as well as continued growth in the programs Helping Harvest operates directly, officials said in an announcement of the 2026 figures.
The Weekender Program and the School Pantry Program saw a noticeable expansion during the past fiscal year, they said.
Helping Harvest now operates school pantries, including the Spartan Station in the Wyomissing School District. (Courtesy of Helping Harvest)
The Weekender Program, which provides bags of food to students to take home over weekends and school breaks, delivered 134,489 bags across 91 sites in Berks and Schuylkill counties.
That figure is the most bags the program has delivered in a single school year, with a modest increase from the previous year, officials said.
The School Pantry Program grew from five schools to eight during the past fiscal year, adding locations at middle and high schools in both counties.
The pantries are designed with older students in mind. Instead of receiving a prepacked bag, students can select food for their households, providing greater choice and dignity, officials said.
They said the program is an evolution — not a replacement — of the Weekender model. It is intended to better suit the growing needs of older students.
Helping Harvest operates school pantries in Berks at Wyomissing, Gov. Mifflin, Conrad Weiser and Reading, and in Schuylkill at Minersville, Pottsville, Schuylkill Haven and DHH Lengle Middle School.
Helping Harvest’s Community Kitchen in Reading, which opened in the GoggleWorks II building at 229 Washington St. in April 2025, also expanded its reach, providing over 14,000 congregate meals to seven agency partners including Opportunity House, Safe Berks, and New Journey Community Outreach.
“The need for food assistance in our communities continues to grow, and so does our commitment to meeting that need in new ways,” Worrall said. “Reaching older students through school pantries, bringing meals directly to community agencies: these are examples of how we continue to evolve our approach to make sure no one is left behind.”
Worrall said the agency is holding its own as it faces the growing demand.
“Frankly, we are doing the best we can,” he said. “We continue to invest in our ability to source, store and distribute donated and purchased food to the 350-plus partners in the Charitable Food Network in Berks and Schuylkill counties.
“The new Community Kitchen also allows us to receive donations of food products packaged in bulk and use those donations to create ready-to-eat meals. We are still exploring how the kitchen can be most effective in helping us achieve our mission.”
But, Worrall said, the agency can’t do it alone.
“We are faced with increasing demand even as the federal programs we rely on are being cut, so we really do need the community’s help more now than ever before,” he said. “Any kind person who is interested in supporting our work by making a financial donation, a food donation or by volunteering can find out how to do so on our website — www.helpingharvest.org.”