Helping families defeat hunger and poverty

Brooklyn Rescue Mission Urban Harvest Center (BRMUHC) grows and distributes nutritious food to families in need of assistance promoting a healthy lifestyle for both body and soul to the Central Brooklyn Community.

Who we are:
Co-founders Robert and Devanie Jackson have spent over 35  years in public service and outreach work among New York City’s neediest residents and shared a vision of creating a place that would do much more than rescue people from hunger.  We set out to create a place of healing and pride. Our dream was to create a secure food system in a community with limited access to fresh and healthy food, to transform a decrepit urban landscape into a thriving urban farm, and to inspire local residents to take control of their own nutrition.

Fresh food grown at the Bed-Stuy farm for the Pantry

What the funds are for:
We need your help to save the Bed-Stuy Farm from going into foreclosure and the Urban Harvest food pantry from closing. The Bed-Stuy Farm is need of $18,000 to pay off it’s mortgage arrears by the end February 2018.  Everyday it is a hard struggle for urban farmers to maintain their land in New York City. Developers are always at door asking us to sell the farm so that they can build another construction project.

Hungry families who shop (for no-cost) at Urban Harvest food pantry rely on the fresh hyper local food we grow on the Bed-Stuy farm both conventionally and in our greenhouses during the growing season. The pressure to close our farm is not just being felt at our organization but there is also pressure from the building management company to evict our food pantry for a commercial business that can pay higher rental fees.  This is a monthly struggle for our organization even though we feed many needy families in the community. (This $12,000 request for support will pay for one year of pantry rent and utilities).

With your help we can maintain our urban growing and our food pantry spaces with a donation from caring friends like you.

Our community impact:
Urban Harvest food pantry  provided fresh food to the 48,000 needy seniors and families with children at-risk of hunger.
The food programs served over 468,000 meals.
The Bed-Stuy Farm produced over 2600 lbs of food for the community.
The Urban Harvest food pantry distributed over 28,000 lbs of produce to hungry families.

Bed-Stuy Farm mentors neighborhood youth

Our story:
Taking up residence in an old brownstone on a residential block near a major thoroughfare, BRMUHC was conceived of as both a part of and a resource to its neighborhood. BRMUHC first began operating an emergency food pantry program for the elderly, disabled, and low-income residents of their neighborhood.

“We decided to find a way to distribute fresh, organic produce through our food pantry at no-cost to the pantry guests.” -- The Jackson’s

Long before they planted the first seed in the Bed-Stuy Farm, Robert and DeVanie revolutionized the concept of emergency food with the belief that people with limited options deserve healthy choices, and that all people deserve access to fresh food, even if they cannot afford to pay for it.

And in just these 10 short years, the community has embraced the Bed-Stuy farm. Robert and DeVanie are not only beloved neighbors and missionaries to the people of their community, but have become community leaders to seniors and youth alike. The ambition and success of BRMUHC’s efforts has been recognized with many awards.

Your gift will help us continue our hunger relief work in 2018.

This is where you can help:
To all of our Bed-Stuy farmers, our friends, our families, our dedicated followers …and to all of those who just learned about us by reading this post, I am asking you personally to help us save the Bed-Stuy farm and Urban Harvest food pantry.

Your gift will help us continue to feed hungry families and grow more food.

Please consider sharing this campaign with your friends and family on Facebook, email, Twitter, and text messages. Each share makes a real difference!  
ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

Everyone needs fresh healthy food to live.