Over the past 12 years, Second Harvest Foodbank’s Harvest Snack Program has provided nutritious foods to youth in Southern Wisconsin in collaboration with the United Way and Henry J. Predolin Foundation.
We are currently in partnership with 13 programs, many of them community centers, offering out-of-school time programming to young people within their neighborhoods and communities. At these sites, we project to distribute nearly 150,000 lbs. of nutritious foods in 2024.
The Harvest Snack program has been adapted regularly throughout the past few years in response to the continually evolving needs of community partners and the changing landscape of youth nutrition insecurity.
Some of the most recent transitions in the program include enhancing the ordering and reporting processes for partner ease and efficiency, providing access to a greater variety of produce options, and partnering with local distributor R.E. Golden Produce.
Within the past year, the Harvest Snack program has expanded beyond offering produce and dairy products to include any item available through R.E. Golden Produce. This pivot was in response to the community’s desire for more substantive snack options to offer young people after school.
Community partners now have access to items like dry beans, baking ingredients, spices, grains, etc., on top of the amazing produce and dairy options that are the bedrock of the program.
Additionally, in response to Second Harvest’s strategic pillar of equitable food distribution, the Harvest Snack program is now available to programs outside Dane County. This spring, we began a partnership with the McIntosh Memorial Library in Viroqua, which provides free after-school and summer programming to youth in the Viroqua community.
In collaboration with community partners, Second Harvest will continue to expand and improve the Harvest Snack program for years to come.
