Harvest House marks 25 years of feeding the needy

Harvest House has been providing hot lunches to the needy and underserved in the northern section of Sussex County for 25 years.

In 1997, Fran Spielhagen and 13 students at Vernon Township High School started the effort as the Vernon Township Hunger Project. The next year, they hosted the project’s first Harvest Festival.

Their hope was to establish a place where those in need could receive a free hot lunch.

The dream became reality in 1999, when the project won the National Make a Difference Day Award and received a $10,000 donation from Newman’s Own, a food company that donates its profits to charity.

Harvest House officially was born in 2000 and was located at the First Baptist Church in Sussex. In 2020, it moved to the rear of 37 Main St., Sussex.

The nonprofit organization is open from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. weekdays, when it serves 40 to 60 hot meals.

It has 45 volunteers and five board members who are led by Denise O’Connor, president of the organization.

She has been with Harvest House for 20 years and has been its president for nine years.

Financial issues

Like many of the people that it helps, Harvest House has faced financial hardships since the beginning.

“When I tell you we are working on a shoestring, we truly are and always have been,” O’Connor said. “We are not federally funded and rely on donations from local residents and host fundraisers.”

She had hoped to have a celebration of the nonprofit’s 25th anniversary in February but put it off because of the cost.

In March, she held a meeting with the community, looking for suggestions.

Harvest House has received many donations and now is starting to look for grants.

“It’s pretty amazing, and I am telling you you have to go there because you would be amazed,” O’Connor said. “Our kitchen manager, Kelly (Immesberger), is an amazing cook. Whatever food comes in, she will create something delicious.”

Jersey Girl Cheese recently donated 40 pounds of fresh mozzarella and Immesberger used it in a baked ziti.

Those who come for lunch are very grateful and help unload trucks bringing food, O’Connor said. Many are single older men on a fixed income. Most travel by foot or bike from throughout the county.