Step onto any college campus and you’ll see buildings and programs named for alumni and community leaders. At Rockhurst University you’ll find the same…plus a program named after grandma. Grandma’s Pantry assists students experiencing food insecurity, an all-too-common situation at campuses everywhere.
Grandma’s Pantry, like most college food pantries, relies heavily on donations. Harvesters Community Food Network provides the food to power Grandma’s Pantry and nine other college pantries in the metro. Blue KC helps provide the financial assistance to power Harvesters.
Blue KC partners with Harvesters and other organizations through our Well Stocked initiative to increase access to nutritious food in under-served areas of Kansas City. We do it through financial donations, volunteer activities, and fundraising events, such as Feastival and the Amaizing Sweet Corn Glean-a-thon.
Feastival Food and Drink Pop-Up
In August, Blue KC sponsored Feastival, a benefit for Harvesters. The event, held at Union Station, featured a five-course dinner from KC’s finest chefs, a brunch, and bag pack. The event raised more than $460,000 and resulted in more than 6,400 pounds of apples packed to distribute to Kansas City pantries, like Grandma’s Pantry.
Amaizing Sweet Corn Glean-a-thon
Blue KC volunteers braved heat and husk in July to glean 4,015 pounds of sweet corn for After the Harvest’s Amaizing Sweet Corn Glean-a-thon. That’s 8,030 ears of corn and about 235 ears per Blue KC volunteer. After the Harvest distributes the sweet corn and other produce through Harvesters to agencies and pantries in the metro.
This video from 2022 provides a glimpse into the annual gleaning process: