Today we’d like to introduce you to David Huang.
Hi David, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Harvest for the Hungry, Inc. is a nonprofit with a mission to provide healthy farm to table food for those struggling with food insecurity. We are located on 61 acres in Freeport, Texas. We were incorporated in 2019 after a series of events that only God could orchestrate. My family are first generation immigrants from Taiwan to Houston. When they moved here in the 1970s, they had me and my brother. We grew up in extreme poverty and struggled with food insecurity. Growing up in that environment was difficult where we did not always have food on the table, much less healthy food. There was bullying and teasing at school associated with poverty and our food insecurity. Fast forward 40 years, I now serve as a physician in emergency medicine and as a pastor of a church in Texas. I am keenly aware of the incidence of food insecurity in our community. Over the past decades, I prayed that God would show me where and when to start a farm to address food insecurity so other families with children would not have to go through what I did. In 2019, a medical coworker asked me if I knew of anyone who wanted to buy 61 acres of land in Freeport, Texas. I told my coworker my experiences and prayers, and said yes, I know of someone who wants to buy this land. The next week, we had a generous donor who provided the funds for us to buy the land. In 2019, we started the nonprofit Harvest for the Hungry, Inc. Our mission is to provide healthy farm to table food for those struggling with food insecurity. We also use feeding people physically as a platform for feeding people spiritually.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There certainly have been challenges and lessons learned over the past several years. The two fold greatest challenges have been securing funding for financial sustainability and procuring regular volunteers at the farm. The COVID-19 pandemic and unfavorable macroeconomics have made farming, being a nonprofit, and located in a rural area, difficult to secure funding not only from donors but from grants. As a startup nonprofit, balancing paid work, family life with starting and maintaining a nonprofit has been most challenging. Because much of the farming volunteer work is outdoors, the hot and humid weather, not to mention the mosquitoes and other critters, has made it challenging to recruit regular volunteers. The volunteers that do come out to the farm are hard working and passionate about helping their community. Looking back, it certainly has not been easy or smooth. Lessons learned are family is most important and will be there when everything else is not there. For those passionate about starting or maintaining a nonprofit, I learned family should always be priority number 1, because, if not careful, nonprofit work can quickly cannibalize time with family, paid work and other priorities in one’s life.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
At the Harvest for the Hungry, Inc. nonprofit. We are focused on providing healthy farm to table access and consumption to those in need. Our focus is twofold: experience and education. We want the community who is struggling with food insecurity to visit the farm so they can see where there food is growing, how is grows, and how to harvest the fresh food themselves. In addition, we want to educate the community about the nutritional benefits of the food such as the vitamins, antioxidants, protein and fiber content of the food they harvested from the farm. Furthermore, we have a food preparation area that allows the community to be taught how to cook the food they just harvested, not just stove/oven cooking but also freeze-dry, canning and water boiling methods that preserve the fruits and vegetables they harvested for longer term storage, while reducing waste and spoilage.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
I am happy when I get to play a part in God’s story and creation at the Harvest for the Hungry Farm. There is a peace that I get when I am at the farm, and many others who come to the property have said the same thing. I enjoy the fellowship with other volunteers and community members who come for food year round, knowing we are playing a part in addressing food insecurity and consequently both physical but spiritual health. I especially enjoy when my family is able to come along and work beside me and fellowship with others at the farm and serve those struggling with food insecurity.
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