History

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Hidden Harvest is founded by Christy Porter, a former award-winning photojournalist and afficionado of fresh produce and those who grow it. The Desert Community Foundation h­elps Hidden Harvest ­get started by purchasing  a 17,000 square foot warehouse headquarters on 3½ acres in Coachella. The new headquarters, built in the 1930s, was originally a packing house for grapefruit and dates.­ Work begins on restoration of the building, which had been empty for years. Over 7,000 square feet of cold storage space is restored.

HH friends Larry and Bonnie Pittman donate a forklift, changing our life in ways we can't believe. Who knew you didn't have to carry every box of tomatoes??!!

Hidden Harvest rescues 75,000 lbs. of produce the first year and has on-going meetings with local growers to establish a cooperative working relationship.­

Executive director Christy Porter receives the Harry Chapin World Hunger Year Award, honoring innovators in community-based solutions to hunger and poverty.

2002:

­Hidden Harvest purchases their first refrigerated truck with a grant from Kraft Foods, Inc. As word of the gleaning project spreads, the pounds of produce rescued increases to 150,000.

Over 40 agencies receive donated produce from HH during the year.

Local chefs begin developing recipes for produce as it is harvested and recipes are delivered to agencies along with the fruits and vegetables.

2003:

Hidden Harvest hits the 1,000,000 mark!

HH establishes fresh produce food bank in four local schools.

 HH builds a community garden with 300 raised beds at our facility in Coachella. Classes on the "Square Foot Gardening Method" are launched.

More local farms team up with Hidden Harvest to help feed the Coachella Valley's needy.

Hidden Harvest again receives the Harry Chapin Award, honoring innovators in community-based solutions to hunger and poverty.

2004:

Hidden Harvest gains the leadership of a sterling new Board of Directors. The board members extensive business experiences run the spectrum from Silicon Valley to manufacturing and aviation. HH continues to harvest more and more produce and employ hundreds of field workers during the course of the year.

The board makes a commitment to raise all of HH's operating costs themselves so that 100% of public donation and revenue from foundation grants will go directly to the project.

 HH begins its popular annual bus tour of the Coachella Valley's rich agricultural fields. The tour is hosted by super-farmer and HH board member Mark Nickerson of PrimeTime International.

2005:

Two million lbs. harvested!

Hidden Harvest adds another 20-foot box truck to their fleet, a gift in part from the Spirit of the Desert Presbyterian Congregation.

2006:

Three millions lbs. rescued!

A happy day -- Francisco Linares comes to work for Hidden Harvest, single-handedly improving our efficiency and output nearly overnight. Every Executive Director ought to have one, but you can't have mine! Thanks Fran!! for all you do.

­Late this year and in early 2007 the Coachella Valley suffers an 85% crop loss due to the worst freeze in more than 30 years. Hidden Harvest leads the way in providing food and other assistance for freeze victims. Our emergency efforts generate weeks of media coverage as well as editorial support from local news outlets. The public responds with overwhelming generosity to help feed their neighbors.

­­2007:

In late March the crops rebound and Hidden Harvest puts hundreds of fields workers back to work harvesting everything from artichokes to zucchinis. Hidden Harvest serves more than 12,000 food bank clients in March, up from 7,000 in December of 2006.

HH, in partnership with the City of Indian Wells, begins valleywide citrus "rescue" -- 65 tons in year one. Millions of pounds of Coachella Valley citrus used for landscaping are heaped into landfills every year. HH and IW vow to improve their recovery plan each year.

In April, Christy is named the Outstanding Nonprofit Executive in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties by the Resource Center for Nonprofit Management.

In October, Christy is honored with the Minerva Award by First Lady Maria Shriver. Created by Maria Shriver in 2004, the Minerva Awards are named after the Roman Goddess of Wisdom and Justice portrayed on the California state seal. According to Shriver, Minerva Award recipients have made extraordinary contributions to California in the arts, health and sciences, community activism and other arenas.

Christy's Minerva Award was presented at the California Governor and First Lady's Conference on Women, the largest women's conference in the nation. The achievements of Christy and other Minerva Award winner are chronicled in a permanent exhibit at the California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento. Other Minerva honorees include astronaut Sally Ride, Billie Jean KIng, Gloria Steinem, and former first lady Betty Ford.

 

­­20­0­8:

Hidden Harvest hits 5 Millo­n pounds of "rescued" produce!

California Senator Barbara Boxer awards HH the Senate's "Health Care Champions Award" for "exceptional work in providing health benefits to Californians."

Hidden Harvest places 2nd among over 500 entries worldwide in the Peter F. Drucker Innovation Awards!

People Magazine profiles HH founder in "Heroes Among Us" feature.

Hidden Harvest launches it's Eat Smart. Be Smart. nutrition education program in John Kelly School in Thermal.

 HH receives $141,000 grant from Regional Access Project Foundation.

 HH appears on Univison's Despierta America! program nationwide.

"Success For Women" Magazine profiles HH exec! in Winter 08 issue.

 

 

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