Harvest charity feeds 50 families

House of the Harvest is Madison County’s newest public charity distribution center. CONTRIBUTED

HARVEST – A new charity organization in Harvest plans to feed Thanksgiving dinner to more than 50 families.

House of the Harvest, Madison County’s newest public charity distribution center, has invited the families for the meal. Volunteers will cook and serve the dinner from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving at the center, 9144 Wall Triana in Harvest.

“House of the Harvest is housed in the former location of Harvest Volunteer Fire Department. The building was sold to them for $1 so it could be used to benefit the community,” public relations manager Melanie Basham.

Local teachers Adam and Jennifer Walker are co-founders of House of the Harvest. “They could only imagine opening this center when Jennifer first began to distribute food to needy students at Sparkman Middle School as part of their student council’s service to the school,” Basham said.

” Adam was also volunteering at Manna House, a Huntsville charity distribution center. Through their separate efforts, they realized their passion for starting something that could serve their community in the same way,” Basham said.

Last winter, “schools ended up with several weather days that would cause us to be delayed or closed. Students would come to us and ask for food in fear of us having to cancel school and having no food in their house,” Adam said.

As part of its ongoing effort, House of the Harvest invites local families in need to pick up food on Saturday mornings from 9 to 11 a.m. More than just providing food to those families, the Walkers want people to know that others care about them.

“We want people who come here to feel like an integral part of the community and to know people love them and are rooting for them,” Jennifer said.

House of the Harvest seeks to alleviate the needs of families in poverty in the Harvest community. The organization is fully funded by donations and is staffed by volunteers who have a heart for their neighbors. For more information, visit houseoftheharvest.org.