Anyone for Harvest?

Most people will remember harassing their family for food to take in to school for the harvest festival. Someone would dig around in the cupboard to drag out that old tin of kidney beans or maybe some tinned prunes for you to march in to school with. There would be singing and poems and a big display of food but, what is it really all about?

“Harvest is extremely important to HARP and the catering team” says catering manager Ruth Smith, “because a good harvest collection greatly boosts our stocks and can provide basics, meal ingredients and items for food parcels for up to six months. If people just donated one item each, all those individual items would make a huge difference”

Harvest takes its name from hærf-est which originally meant autumn.

Harvest celebrations go back some way, with communities celebrating successful crops and giving thanks, even back in pagan times.

The feasts were a way of celebrating a successful harvest, thanking all those who had helped bring in the crop and to share the bounty with those less fortunate. This kind of celebration has taken place in cultures all around the world albeit at different times depending on when the crop is ready to harvest.

In Cornwall in 1843, this tradition was embraced by the church when the Reverend Robert Hawker invited parishioners to the first thanksgiving service for the harvest at his church at Morwenstow in Cornwall.

For most, harvest, is just something we learn about and engage with in school, but for others it is a very important time of the year.

Our community fundraiser Dan Hotten will be kept very busy over the next couple of months supporting schools and other community groups by giving talks and presentations about harvest and what difference their donations make.

Harvest is more of a tradition than a necessity now days. We get our fruit and veg flown in from all over the world regardless of the season. But the real legacy is in understanding how lucky we are to have this food and to share with those less fortunate.

Volunteer coordinator Stevie Hickman knows all about harvest as she arranges and manages volunteers to collect and help sort donations from our community, “As a child it was exciting taking in tins of food and the fun assembly we would have, as an adult being part of the solution to end hunger feels rewarding. With over 300 residents and many more supported people across HARP, the generous donations we receive go a long way in feeding our community of people who are experiencing homelessness.”

You can support HARP by giving where you can, donations of non-perishables are what keeps us going. If you, your community group or school would like to get involved and collect for HARP please contact dan.hotten@harpsouthend.org.uk or if you want to volunteer to help out please contact stevie.hickman@harpsouthend.org.uk