Our sole mission is food assistance.
Harvest of Hope Pantry opened in 2012 and is the only food pantry in Boulder that serves everyone who comes to the door.
We offer a client choice shopping experience where individuals select their preferred foods within our shopping allowances. We provide fruit, vegetables, bakery items, canned foods, dairy, meat, and frozen foods.
The Pantry serves individuals and families from a variety of backgrounds and circumstances. Our aim is to provide a welcoming shopping experience where everyone can leave with the food they need, often filling the gap that other services are unable to offer.
Clients who do not have access to refrigeration, can rely on a variety easy-to-transport single serving foods and may shop daily. We provide foods such as protein bars, pop-top canned items, yogurt, produce and fresh sandwiches.
Clients who have access to refrigeration have the opportunity to shop one day each week. In addition to non-perishables, they can select from frozen foods, pre-prepared meals, dairy items, and proteins like chicken, beef, and meatless options.
Hope Pantry Overview
Don’t have time to roam our entire site? This 90-second video will give you a quick look at all we do to help feed those in need in Boulder, CO.
Harvest of Hope Pantry offers many ways for individuals, families and businesses to share time and resources to give back to the community through supporting those in need of food assistance.
Annual Report
We encourage you to view our Annual Report to read about how we are serving our community. We are able to help feed those in need thanks to the generosity of many great supporters and volunteers.
See more of our impact from the latest 2024 Shopper Survey.
Our Mission, Goals, and Values
MISSION:
Our mission is to provide healthy supplemental food to Boulder families and individuals in need of food assistance within a safe, welcoming and non-judgmental environment.
GOALS:
- To provide a sense of hope to Boulder families and individuals by relieving the stress of food insecurity.
- To be a sustainable source of supplemental food to those in need.
- To provide an efficient outlet for the redistribution of food.
VALUES:
We respect and uphold the dignity of every person, especially the marginalized and most vulnerable within our community.
Our History
Harvest of Hope Pantry combined the rich traditions of two Boulder, Colorado Catholic parishes – St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center and Sacred Heart of Jesus – to serve individuals and families for more than a combined 40 years. The Benedictines, a Roman Catholic religious order of monks and nuns – opened the St. Tom’s food bank in 1970, serving the single poor and homeless from the back porch of the pastoral center. A dedicated group of parishioners led by Lea Dischner founded the Sacred Heart of Jesus food box program in 1983.
As St. Tom’s ministry grew, it moved from the back porch to a shed area, then to the youth house and finally to a cottage located next to the church. From 50 to 80 clients visited daily to receive a food bag, treats and prepared sandwiches under the direction of Agnes Stupp and Judy Cardell.
Over three decades, Sacred Heart of Jesus’ program grew to supply 150 households every other week with boxes of food, as well as turkey dinners during the holidays. In the later years, they transitioned to a client-choice shopping experience, where individuals selected preferred food items.
Harvest of Hope Pantry successfully wove together the volunteers and clients of the two programs under the leadership of Michael Freece, the pantry’s first Board of Directors’ Chair. Today, the number of volunteers and clients has greatly expanded beyond those that began volunteering and shopping under the pantry’s roof in 2012.
Our Funding
The initial funding to open our doors came from the generosity of individual donors. Individual donors, especially those who give monthly through the Full Plate Club, remain a major source of operational funding at Harvest of Hope.
Grants through the United Way, Community Food Share, and various private foundations supported the purchase of freezers and coolers, building out the building we all know and love today.
As we look to the future, we are excited to build on the monumental support of our existing community and continue to provide more food to more people in Boulder county.
Our Board
Trent Hein
Board Chair
Dean Hazelwood
Vice Chair
Karen Donnelly
Secretary
Polly Buster
Vandna Sinha
Tink Hansen