Harvest Hope Receives $100K Equitable Food Access Grant from Starbucks to Support Communities Disproportionately Affected by Hunger

August 3, 2021 - Harvest Hope Food Bank received a $100,000 equitable food access grant from Starbucks to help increase access to nutritious food among households with individuals who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) residing in communities experiencing high food insecurity rates in the Midlands of South Carolina. Harvest Hope will use this grant to engage local communities to better understand the barriers to accessing food and will support new or expand existing interventions that can help overcome these obstacles.

“The COVID-19 pandemic really put a spotlight on the state of hunger in our nation,” says Erinn Rowe, Harvest Hope CEO. “We are proud to work with Starbucks toward our shared goals of addressing the root causes of hunger. With this grant, we’ll be able to continue to identify and address racial disparities in our communities.”

Harvest Hope partners with community partners like Starbucks to provide over 22 million meals to individuals facing hunger in South Carolina through various programs focusing on children, seniors, those living in food deserts and more. With this grant from Starbucks, Harvest Hope hopes to make a giant step forward in eradicating hunger in our area.

“For the last 50 years and still today, Starbucks believes it is our role and responsibility to help strengthen the communities we serve, and in partnership with Feeding America, we are tackling hunger with a focus on equity,” said Camille Hymes, vice president of community impact at Starbucks. “The equitable food access grants are a unique opportunity to combine efforts with our Community Stores across the country, which are specifically designed to support historically under-resourced communities through local partnerships and economic opportunity, to increase access to nutritious food for people that need it most.”

Harvest Hope, a member of the Feeding America® network, is one of 16 food banks to receive this funding from Starbucks. Harvest Hope was identified based on the location of a Starbucks Community Store which are committed to economic development and opportunity in historically under-resourced communities. Since 2016, Starbucks has helped to provide more than 27 million meals* to people facing hunger through its FoodShare program in partnership with Feeding America.

To learn more about how you can join the fight to end hunger, visit harvesthope.org.