America Harvest

WHAT WE DO
social entrepreneurs transforming waste into resource

Where we started ...

AMERICA HARVEST's founder and president, Helen verDuin Palit, was a social entrepreneur before the term was invented. In 1982 Helen conceptualized CITY HARVEST in New York City which was the first program anywhere to pick up perishable food (hot, cold or frozen) from restaurants, caterers, corporate cafeterias and events that is delivered immediately and for free, to nearby social service agencies feeding the hungry men, women, and children. In eight short years, CITY HARVEST went from concept to becoming the city's newest institution. Today CITY HARVEST distributes enough food for over 45,000 meals a day, seven days a week.

Other cities ...

If it works in New York City, why not in other cities? President George Bush named Helen his Fourth Point of Light in his THOUSAND POINTS OF LIGHT Campaign, with the mandate to replicate her successful program to any city that needed it. People in other communities asked for assistance to create, establish and effectively provide long-term management of their own HARVEST program. Helen assisted in the establishment of HARVEST programs in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Patterson, Montreal, Halifax and other programs initially. In 1990 Responding to this larger need for management assistance, Helen founded AMERICA HARVEST, a separate nonprofit sharing the concepts, principles as well as the proven processes and systems. Each program is an independent program with its own board of directors, food and fund raising efforts. The programs all use the basic HARVEST concept, while being tailored to best meet the needs of their local community. ANGEL HARVEST in Los Angeles is modified to serve the Entertainment Industry with all of the premiers and award shows, the OSCARS, and the GRAMMYS. ALOHA HARVEST in Honolulu, the newest, is adapted to Hawaii's ethnic diversity and local traditions, like the Men's 40th birthday celebrations and the daily tourist luaus.

Accomplishments ...

Currently there are 122 HARVEST programs in the United States, and another 83 around the world using this unique model. After you finish your dinner tonight, all of the HARVEST programs, will deliver enough food, to provide over 700,000 meals to hungry men, women and children, around the world. This is accomplished, with absolutely no cost, to either the food donors, or the social service agencies, receiving this emergency food, for those in need.

Management principles that work ...

Through our experience, with more than 200 HARVEST programs around the world, we understand that the active management principles, that characterize these highly successful HARVEST food programs. All of these can and should be applied, to a wide range of problems of sufficiency. That is where AMERICA HARVEST is now turning its attention.

Expanding the mission ...

Since 1982, Helen's original HARVEST has been food. Her commitment has been to gather waste and turn it into plenty. Starting in 2003 the new HARVEST is ideas. Our commitment is to use all of the proven innovative ideas to help others to create sufficiency from waste of all kinds.

Broadening its focus ...

AMERICA HARVEST is becoming a resource center, from the front lines of philanthropic innovation, around the world. Our goal is to take our experience and apply the lessons learned, and best practices we have developed, to expand the range of sufficiency programs. This will enable develop new kinds of solutions for not only the poor and the disenfranchised, but also the illiterate, and anyone wanting to match the community's resources to the community's needs.

New opportunities ...

There is a tremendous body of experience out there; experience amassed by many social entrepreneurs who each are "making it up" as they go. As a result there is a tremendous amount of "re-inventing the wheel" to solve the same problems again and again. To me that is a waste of time, energy and talent. A very expensive waste also, because it slows the process of getting substantial solutions, in place to solve our most pressing problems.

New goal ...

AMERICA HARVEST's new goal is to harvest the best ideas, the best practices, the stories behind the biggest successes and the abject failures. We can turn them into the seeds that will help people who are looking to start, improve or simply maintain their programs in growing the next crop of solutions.

Utilizing technology ...

Currently we are starting to research all of new innovative solutions to all types of social challenges, whether for-profit or non-profit. Utilizing technology we have plans for connecting, sharing, and disseminating this valuable information are being explored to freely share with anyone.

Knowledge for everyone ...

We are now beginning to formulate plans, to share this incredibly valuable, hard won knowledge. We want to serve the doers, the social entrepreneurs in communities and corporations all over the world, who are taking the responsibility and making the commitment to create grassroots sufficiency programs in their own backyards. We have indeed become Marshal McCluhan's global village - and, there is no boundary, to need.

Please stay tuned for this exciting evolution!