Friday, October 31, 2025
Oktoberfest Food Drive for Fresh Harvest
With reductions in federal funding, food pantries are struggling to access food needed to meet rising demand. For example, a 30% reduction in their funding from The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) has resulted in less food on the shelves at Fresh Harvest Pantry in Hudson. Fresh Harvest is the largest free-standing food pantry in St. Croix County, and they have experienced a 30% increase in demand over the last 12 months. They strive to make a variety of healthy foods available to families in St. Croix County, and serve 350-375 families each week.
Typically, they see an increase in a demand for food in the fourth quarter, so October is a good time to help them stock their shelves.
In October, Bethel will partner with other churches in the Hudson area to help fill the gap in funding at Fresh Harvest. Bethel will host a food drive to collect breakfast food items and invite online donations. Neighboring churches will collect other needed food items, such as dinner kits (e.g., pizza, spaghetti, chili, etc.) and lunch food, as well as financial donations.
How You Can Help:
Bring non-perishable breakfast items to the Downtown or Highlands campus in the month of October:
· Boxes of Cereal
· Boxes of Oatmeal Packets
· Breakfast Kits, consisting of pancake mix, syrup and Spam
Place your donation in the shopping carts located in the narthex at each campus. Our goal is to collect at least 400 boxes of cereal, boxes of oatmeal packets and breakfast kits in the month of October.
Make a financial donation to Fresh Harvest by visiting Bethel’s website. Select Give, then select Fresh Harvest from the drop-down menu under Designation to donate to Fresh Harvest in October.
Fresh Harvest and members of our community thank you for your generosity.