Farm and ranch families nationwide donated 31 million pounds of food and raised $425,879 to help fight hunger and assist in other community service outreach in 2023 through Farm Bureau’s Harvest for All program. The monetary and food donations totaled the equivalent of 26 million meals.
Criteria for tracking Harvest for All donations included dollars and pounds of food donated by state and county Farm Bureaus, as well as volunteer hours, reported from the grassroots up as part of the annual campaign.
The spirit of farm communities has always been one of working together and giving back. Now in its 22nd year, Harvest for All is spearheaded by members of Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers program, but members of all ages from across the nation contribute to the effort. Their participation helps ensure Americans who are facing food insecurity can enjoy the bounty of food farmers and ranchers produce. In addition to raising food and funds, farmers and ranchers tallied 21,571 hours for local food insecurity efforts and other community service.
“People from all walks of life, including many rural Americans and residents of farming communities, remain concerned about addressing hunger,” said Kevin Lussier of Florida, chair of AFBF’s YF&R Committee. “Farm Bureau’s commitment to helping put food on the tables of those in need through Harvest for All remains strong.”
Florida Farm Bureau took top honors for donating the most food in 2023, 22 million pounds. This included conducting donation drives focused on peanut butter and canned food in addition to produce-gleaning projects, helping local farmers pick produce from fields after harvest for donation to local food pantries. Florida Farm Bureau also tallied the most volunteer hours through these activities, 15,000.
Michigan Farm Bureau took top honors for raising the most money in 2023, $222,000. Numerous fundraising activities conducted with the assistance of the Michigan Farm Bureau family of companies yielded this impressive total.
With contributions from Nationwide, each state organization received a $500 grant (for each type of contribution) for donation to a local food bank of their choice or another Harvest for All project.
Second-place winners were the New York Farm Bureau, which donated 8 million pounds of food; the Illinois Farm Bureau, which provided more than 2,500 hours of donated volunteer time; and the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, which provided $73,000 in donated funds.
Each second-place winner received a $250 grant from Nationwide to donate to the local food bank of their choice.
Most Innovative winner
In addition, the North Carolina Farm Bureau YF&R Committee received a $250 grant from Nationwide for “most innovative” program. They raised more than $18,000 and collected 100,000 pounds of food at a charity shooting event hosted to benefit food banks in the state.
The awards were presented during AFBF’s Young Farmers & Ranchers Leadership Conference, held March 8-11 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Since Harvest for All was launched, Farm Bureau families have gathered 468 million pounds of food, logged more than 250,000 volunteer hours and raised nearly $11.5 million in donations. In 2023, AFBF earned a prestigious Power of Associations Summit Award from the American Society of Association Executives, in recognition of Harvest for All’s success in addressing hunger in rural America over the past 20-plus years.