Summer in the Lehigh Valley has been anything but slow. Since our spring update, we’ve rescued more than 33,000 additional pounds of food and essential goods, welcomed a wave of new partners from farms down the road to organizations across the country, and started laying the groundwork for what comes next.

We have a lot to share — including two things we could really use your help with. Let’s dig in.

Halfway Through the Year — and Already Over 153,000 lbs Rescued

From January 1 through June 30, iHave iNeed has rescued 153,631 pounds of food and essential goods.

That’s more than 76 tons — in just six months. And the momentum hasn’t slowed: we rescued 15,625 pounds in May and 17,789 pounds in June, day in and day out, seven days a week.

Behind every pound rescued is a family receiving groceries, a senior stretching a fixed income, a child with fresh food to take home, or a nonprofit better equipped to serve our community. This year alone, more than 35 partner organizations have turned rescued food and essential goods into hope for hundreds—if not thousands—of neighbors across the Lehigh Valley. Thank you for making those stories possible.

Our Schools Keep Showing Up

Our school district partnerships continue to be one of the most powerful sources of rescued food. This season alone:

Parkland School District — 18,601 pounds
Northern Lehigh School District — 7,040 pounds
East Penn School District — 977 pounds (through Emmaus High School, currently the only participating school in the district — we’re hoping to expand to others)

Nutritious food that would have been thrown away is instead delivered to nonprofit organizations that support families across the region — and students are learning firsthand what it means to care for their neighbors.

Rescues Big and Bountiful

A few highlights that show just how far our network now reaches:

10,000+ plants from Flower Tents — one of our most ambitious rescues yet. We coordinated a shared moving truck courtesy of Kristi Smith at RE/MAX and rallied 10+ volunteers to make it happen. So many beautiful flowers, vegetable plants and ornamentals made their way across the Lehigh Valley: Camp Fowler, Catasauqua Food Pantry, Salvation Army of Allentown, Casa Guadalupe, and Northern Lehigh Food Bank to name a few!
10 pallets of bottled water — a generous one-time donation, coordinated with America Cares for transportation and shared product. Bottled water was either picked up directly from or delivered to Lehigh Conference of Churches, Dewey Fire Company, Angels of Easton, Bethlehem Emergency Center and others!
300+ dozen eggs and counting from Suyundalla Farm, with additional eggs from Bernard’s Farm — fresh, local, and rescued. This much needed protein was delivered to several of our food pantry partners.

Welcoming New Partners — Near and Far

Our rescue and distribution network continues to grow in every direction. We’re proud to welcome:

Curious Elixirs — pallets of premium non-alcoholic cocktails, with future rescues expected.
Bernard’s Green Valley Farm — occasional fresh egg donations.
Conscious Alliance — food rescues coordinated across the country, including an incoming pallet of energy drinks from Maine and a local pickup of frozen fruit snacks from a nearby cold storage distributor.
Schnecksville CSG Adult Training Facility — CSG is a provider of intellectual & developmental disability (IDD) and mental health (MH) services that empower individuals to reach their full potential. They use proven and innovative approaches to help others lead healthier, more independent lives. This is a partnership modeled on our work with Via of the Lehigh Valley.
East Side Food Pantry (Community Bike Works) — weekly deliveries began this month!
AHEPA 60 senior apartments — accepted food delivery and rescued flowers.
Dewey Fire Company — picked up a pallet of bottled water from ATAS.
Angels of Easton — very active in recent weeks, picking up from ATAS and meeting us at intermediate locations for food deliveries.

Every new partner means more families served and less goods becoming waste in the landfill.

Strengthening Our Board — and Still Searching

This season we welcomed Kevin Brinker, an attorney with King Spry, to the iHave iNeed board of directors. His legal expertise is already an asset as we grow. We also have two additional candidates — both accountants — in the queue, currently being interviewed and evaluated by our current board members.

We’re not done building our board, and this is where you come in. As we grow, we’re looking for community-minded leaders who can help guide our strategy, governance, and financial stewardship. If you — or someone you know — has experience in nonprofit leadership, finance, law, logistics, fundraising, or community organizing and a passion for our mission, we’d love to talk. Just reply to this email to start a conversation.

We’re Searching for a Space to Call Our Own

Here’s our biggest ask, and one of the most important steps in our organization’s history: we’re looking for a warehouse, staging, and volunteer space.

We’ve grown to the point where having our own home base would transform how efficiently we operate. Here’s what we’re looking for:

Approximately 2,000 sq ft, leased (or donated?) on an annual basis (with an option to extend).
Ideal location near Orefield, Whitehall, Coplay, Schnecksville, Allentown (West End)
Used primarily for storage and 2+ pickups/drop-offs per day, 7 days a week of nonperishable food and materials.
A staging area for volunteers, plus a small spot for volunteers’ personal items while they’re on site (when in use, not permanently).
Access to a bathroom.
Because our pickups and drop-offs sometimes happen outside regular business hours, we’d love a setup where staff and volunteers can gain access when needed — through keycard, coded access, and/or remote approval. We’re eager to find a mutually beneficial arrangement.

If you know of available space — or a property owner who might want to support a growing nonprofit in a meaningful way — please reply and let us know. We can do the heavy-lifting of the ask if you can make the introduction. This could be the partnership that takes our mission to the next level.

Out in the Community

We’ve been busy sharing our mission and building relationships:

Morningstar Rotary of Bethlehem — after our presentation, one of their members made a generous $1,000 donation. Thank you!
Allentown Rotary Club — awarded us a $2,000 grant to purchase food rescue supplies, presented via Zoom in June, and invited us to meet their members in person at their July 31st meeting.
Harry C. Trexler Trust – For the second year in a row, we’re proud to share that iHave iNeed has been selected as a grantee. We received $4,800 to purchase food rescue supplies and equipment.
League of Women Voters of Lehigh County — we’ve been invited to present in early 2027.
We also joined the National Food Recovery Association (NFRA), which meets on the third Wednesday of each month — connecting us with food recovery organizations nationwide.

Equipping Our Volunteers

Your support directly powers the tools that keep our rescues safe and efficient. Recent purchases include:

Thermal blankets and insulated bags to keep food safe in transit.
Portable scales so volunteers can weigh rescued items on the spot.
A commercial freezer delivered to ATAS International, expanding our temporary cold storage capacity.

We also launched a small fundraiser for gas cards to help offset the cost our rescue volunteers absorb every week. We’ve raised over $100 so far and are finalizing the best way to distribute the support. If you’d like to chip in, every dollar goes straight to the volunteers on the road.

Growing Our Team

We’re thrilled to welcome Reia Sanchez as our new volunteer Social Media Manager. Reia writes, produces, and schedules our content — so if our posts have felt fresher lately, you know who to thank. She’s also interested in partner relationship management as her schedule allows later this year.

And our volunteer community keeps growing: we welcomed 4 new rescue volunteers this season, bringing us to 25 active volunteers — not counting our organizational partnerships. You are the heartbeat of this mission.

Here’s How You Can Help

Know of a useful space for lease? This is our top priority — reply and connect us.
Know a community leader who’d make a great board member? Introduce us.
Know a business, farm, nonprofit or school with surplus? Make an introduction — we’ll handle the rest.
Volunteer for pickups and deliveries. Every hour helps.
Donate to support transportation, cold storage, gas cards, and operations. A recurring gift of $1/day makes a sustained difference.
Follow and share our posts on Facebook and Instagram. Even this email!

We’re halfway through the year, and thanks to you, we’ve already rescued close to double of what we rescued all of last year. Imagine what the second half will bring — especially with a space to call our own.

Thank you for being part of our effort to have a positive impact on the communities and people in the Lehigh Valley!

Summer 2026 Update – A farm’s worth of eggs & 10,000 rescued plants