By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
Fourteen months into a four-year campaign to raise funds for its future home, Harvest Stand Ministries has reached 85 percent of its goal.
HSM Executive Director Jordan Palladino announced at the Zeeland-based ministry’s annual banquet Oct. 6 at The Foundry Church that its “Fighting Hunger, Building Hope” campaign has raised $2.18 million toward its goal of $2.55 million, which will be used to renovate its future headquarters at 330 W. Washington Ave.
“What that does is it buys the building, pays off the debt, it does all of the interior and exterior renovations and allows us to move into that facility,” Palladino said.
Palladino also announced at the banquet that renovation work on the 330 W. Washington site will begin in January, with a goal of having Harvest Stand’s new home open in time for its 30th anniversary celebration next October.
Currently housed at the City on a Hill ministry center, Harvest Stand offers a free food pantry and free clothing store, as well as connection to community resources through a variety of partnerships with local churches and organizations – “responding to human need with the love of Christ,” Palladino says. Its campaign and future plans come at a time where it is receiving more requests for assistance than ever before.
Last year, the ministry served 14,000 people, nearly triple the number it assisted just five years ago. Just last month, 26 new families sought assistance for the first time through Harvest Stand, Palladino said.
“We have married families with children (who are clients). We have homeless teenagers that come to Harvest Stand,” Palladino said. “We have widows, we have widowers, we have fixed-income seniors. We have young families. We have people who just lost their job, we have people who had high-end jobs and maybe they just lost their position. We have people who have been struggling their entire life … with mental illness or substance abuse addiction.”
“If I could draw one throughline through all of our clients, it would be lack of a support system. When things went wrong, there was nobody there to catch them … We get to be that safety net. We get to make sure that when our clients fall, they don’t fall all the way – that there is at least an organization to embrace and to support and to love on our clients,” he added.
Palladino said that many of Harvest Stand’s clients value the relationships they build with ministry staff and volunteers.
“We’re trying to create authentic, Christ-centered hospitality,” he said. “When our clients come in, they know that they are welcomed, that they are not judged, and that they are free to receive assistance.”
According to recent data from United for ALICE, a research organization connected to United Way that analyzes households experiencing financial hardship, 12.3 percent of the 2,396 households in the city of Zeeland were living below the poverty line in 2024, while another 43 percent had incomes above the poverty line but below the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) threshold for meeting basic needs.
The current Harvest Stand facility inside City on a Hill has 6,000 square feet, an amount that is insufficient to meet its growing needs. It also has just one entrance, creating a bottleneck for clients, volunteers and deliveries, and its standard-size door makes delivery of food pallets difficult to accommodate, Palladino said.
The new facility will be 18,000 square feet, with multiple entrances to handle large food deliveries, and separate client and delivery entrances, Palladino said.
Community support of Harvest Stand has risen up over the last few years in response to the increased need. Food donations to the ministry have jumped from about 100,000 pounds in 2021 to 330,000 last year, while clothing donations (cash value) has increased from $40,000 in 2021 to $250,000 last year, Palladino said.
To learn more about Harvest Stand Ministries or to make a donation, visit harveststand.org or contact Palladino at Jordan@harveststand.org.
Zeeland Record
Fourteen months into a four-year campaign to raise funds for its future home, Harvest Stand Ministries has reached 85 percent of its goal.
HSM Executive Director Jordan Palladino announced at the Zeeland-based ministry’s annual banquet Oct. 6 at The Foundry Church that its “Fighting Hunger, Building Hope” campaign has raised $2.18 million toward its goal of $2.55 million, which will be used to renovate its future headquarters at 330 W. Washington Ave.
“What that does is it buys the building, pays off the debt, it does all of the interior and exterior renovations and allows us to move into that facility,” Palladino said.
Palladino also announced at the banquet that renovation work on the 330 W. Washington site will begin in January, with a goal of having Harvest Stand’s new home open in time for its 30th anniversary celebration next October.
Currently housed at the City on a Hill ministry center, Harvest Stand offers a free food pantry and free clothing store, as well as connection to community resources through a variety of partnerships with local churches and organizations – “responding to human need with the love of Christ,” Palladino says. Its campaign and future plans come at a time where it is receiving more requests for assistance than ever before.
Last year, the ministry served 14,000 people, nearly triple the number it assisted just five years ago. Just last month, 26 new families sought assistance for the first time through Harvest Stand, Palladino said.
“We have married families with children (who are clients). We have homeless teenagers that come to Harvest Stand,” Palladino said. “We have widows, we have widowers, we have fixed-income seniors. We have young families. We have people who just lost their job, we have people who had high-end jobs and maybe they just lost their position. We have people who have been struggling their entire life … with mental illness or substance abuse addiction.”
“If I could draw one throughline through all of our clients, it would be lack of a support system. When things went wrong, there was nobody there to catch them … We get to be that safety net. We get to make sure that when our clients fall, they don’t fall all the way – that there is at least an organization to embrace and to support and to love on our clients,” he added.
Palladino said that many of Harvest Stand’s clients value the relationships they build with ministry staff and volunteers.
“We’re trying to create authentic, Christ-centered hospitality,” he said. “When our clients come in, they know that they are welcomed, that they are not judged, and that they are free to receive assistance.”
According to recent data from United for ALICE, a research organization connected to United Way that analyzes households experiencing financial hardship, 12.3 percent of the 2,396 households in the city of Zeeland were living below the poverty line in 2024, while another 43 percent had incomes above the poverty line but below the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) threshold for meeting basic needs.
The current Harvest Stand facility inside City on a Hill has 6,000 square feet, an amount that is insufficient to meet its growing needs. It also has just one entrance, creating a bottleneck for clients, volunteers and deliveries, and its standard-size door makes delivery of food pallets difficult to accommodate, Palladino said.
The new facility will be 18,000 square feet, with multiple entrances to handle large food deliveries, and separate client and delivery entrances, Palladino said.
Community support of Harvest Stand has risen up over the last few years in response to the increased need. Food donations to the ministry have jumped from about 100,000 pounds in 2021 to 330,000 last year, while clothing donations (cash value) has increased from $40,000 in 2021 to $250,000 last year, Palladino said.
To learn more about Harvest Stand Ministries or to make a donation, visit harveststand.org or contact Palladino at Jordan@harveststand.org.
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