What A Just Harvest does

A Just Harvest is a Chicago-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1983 (originally as Good News Community Kitchen) that operates three integrated programs to address food insecurity and the root causes of poverty in the Rogers Park and North of Howard communities. The direct-service arm runs a Community Kitchen at 7649 N. Paulina St. that serves to-go meals 365 days a year to anyone in need without documentation or income verification, alongside a weekly Food Pantry, monthly Produce Mobile distribution, and weekly Grocery Delivery for homebound neighbors. Its advocacy arm, Northside P.O.W.E.R. (People Organized to Work, Educate and Restore), created in 2004, mobilizes constituents for policy change on hunger and poverty, while The Genesis Project, started in 2012, runs the AGUA (Above Ground Urban Agriculture) paid apprenticeship at $15.40/hour for adults facing employment barriers, plus year-round garden education for K–8 students at Gale Community Academy and Eugene Field Elementary School, producing roughly 324–342 pounds of fresh produce annually.

The organization has no proprietary technology platform; service delivery relies on physical facilities (Community Kitchen, AJH Gardens, a third-floor greenhouse at Gale Academy), a member-institution network of 35+ religious congregations and community organizations, and hundreds of volunteers. Adjacent offerings include a Wellness Center (warming, wellness checks, men's haircuts, hygiene supplies, one-on-one coaching), the Howard Street Carnaval, the Freedom Concert, a 5K Wellness Celebration, and the Illinois Solar for All / Decarb Program policy work led by a Director of Policy and Grassroot Educators. Output scale includes up to 200–231 meals per night (single-night peak), ~73,000 meals per year on a 365-day cadence, and a paid apprenticeship at scale.

The business model is donation-driven with no fees charged to recipients. Revenue streams span individual donations (including recurring givers and The Harvest Club at $2,500+/year), planned giving (wills, trusts, retirement plans, appreciated assets), in-kind food and goods, corporate matching gifts, foundation grants, and event-based fundraising. Institutional sponsors named across 2024–2025 include Wintrust Community Bank, Buona, Chicago Fire Soccer Club, Tawani Property Management, SEIU Healthcare IL/IN/MO/KS, Chicago Theological Seminary, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference. The organization is governed by an independent Board of Directors under Executive Director Rev. Dr. Marilyn Pagán-Banks (honored for 20 years of service in 2022), has no parent company, and is not venture-backed.

Name

A Just Harvest

Legal name

A Just Harvest

Website

https://ajustharvest.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

A Just Harvest is a Chicago-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides free daily meals, weekly food pantry, urban agriculture workforce training, and community organizing to food-insecure residents of Rogers Park and the North of Howard community, operating 365 days a year since 1983.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Food and Nutrition Services

NAICS

Vegetable and Melon Farming (1112), Other Food Crops Grown Under Cover (111419)

SIC

Food And Kindred Products (2000)

akta.pro primary industry

Fresh Produce Packhouses (Fruits & Vegetables) (AFAOAGAA)

Keywords

• Community food services
• Food pantry distribution
• Urban agriculture training
• Community organizing advocacy
• Hunger relief programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible charitable donations from individuals, processed online, by phone at 773-262-2297, or by mail. Recurring donor program and The Harvest Club (minimum $2,500 annually) support predictable revenue.
2. Event-Based Fundraising: Annual and special events including the Freedom Concert, 5K Wellness Celebration, restaurant fundraisers, and corporate partnership events generate donations and community engagement.
3. Planned Giving and In-Kind Donations: Planned giving vehicles including gifts from wills/trusts, retirement plans, stocks, bonds, and appreciated assets. In-kind donations of food, goods, and services support direct operations.
4. Corporate Matching and Sponsorships: Corporate matching gifts, employer-sponsored programs, and event sponsorships from businesses such as Buona, Chicago Fire, and others.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

A Just Harvest is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that operates a free community kitchen serving daily hot meals, runs a food pantry distributing non-perishable groceries, distributes fresh produce through a mobile market, delivers groceries to elderly and disabled residents, provides urban agriculture workforce training through the AGUA (Apprentice Gathering Urban Agriculture) program, and leads community organizing through the Northside P.O.W.E.R. coalition in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.

Product overview

A Just Harvest is a community non-profit organization (not a technology company) offering a portfolio of hunger relief and community development programs centered around its Community Kitchen and The Genesis Project. The core offerings include: the Community Kitchen providing daily to-go meals; the Food Pantry and Produce Mobile for grocery distribution; and the Grocery Delivery Service for Rogers Park residents. The Genesis Project houses urban agriculture programs including the AGUA Apprenticeship and Garden Education. Additional programs include Northside P.O.W.E.R. for advocacy organizing, a Wellness Center providing community support services, and signature events including the Howard Street Carnaval and Freedom Concert. These programs work together to address both immediate hunger needs and root causes of poverty through direct service, workforce development, and community organizing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Community Kitchen
• Food Pantry

Quantifiable outcome

• 200 people served per night; peak of 231 on a single night
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SEIU Healthcare IL/IN/MO/KScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025SEIU HCIIMK sponsored the 3rd Annual Freedom Concert as a Cultivator-level sponsor and supports the organization through board leadership (President Jacquie Algee serves as VP/Director of External Relations at SEIU).
• Chicago Theological SeminaryminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Cultivator-level sponsor of the 3rd Annual Freedom Concert in 2025.
• Garrett-Evangelical Theological SeminaryminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Sponsor of the 3rd Annual Freedom Concert in 2025.
• Samuel DeWitt Proctor ConferenceminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2025Sponsor of the 3rd Annual Freedom Concert in 2025.
• Tawani Property ManagementminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Sponsor of the 2nd Annual Freedom Concert in 2024.
• Wintrust Community BankminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Sponsor of the 2nd Annual Freedom Concert in 2024. Also Wintrust Community Bank's Rogers Park branch manager sits on A Just Harvest's Board of Directors.
• Buona (Restaurant)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Buona restaurant in Skokie hosts a fundraiser night on July 22, where 20% of customer purchases are donated back to A Just Harvest.
• Chicago Fire Soccer ClubminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Chicago Fire fundraiser events held in July and September, with special ticket rates available to A Just Harvest community supporters.
• New Life CenterscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNew Life Centers partnered with A Just Harvest to distribute coats, hats, gloves, blankets, clothes, and hygiene kits to community members. Youth volunteers helped organize and distribute weatherization supplies to the community.
• Greater Chicago Food DepositorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Chicago Food Depository (GCFD) provides large monthly deliveries of fresh produce to A Just Harvest on the third Monday of each month for community distribution through the Produce Mobile program.
• Gale Academy of Math and SciencecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Gale Academy provides greenhouse space for seedling production, succulent and house plant cultivation, and serves as a learning space for students. The AGUA team utilizes this third-floor greenhouse during winter months.
• Eugene Field Elementary SchoolminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership beginning in summer 2021 to run a summer and afterschool Garden Club at the school, focusing on native plant habitat creation throughout the campus.
• J.B. Alberto's & Redz Belizean RestaurantminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLocal businesses that provided warm food for the emergency 24-hour warming center at A Just Harvest during the coldest weekend of the year.
• St. Andrew's Greek Orthodox ChurchminorGTM or Marketing PartnerProvided snacks and sandwiches for the emergency warming center operated at A Just Harvest.
• San Lucas United Church of ChristminorGTM or Marketing PartnerProvided covers/blankets for the emergency warming center at A Just Harvest.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• LA Kitchen: Los Angeles nonprofit that operates a community kitchen and a workforce-development culinary apprenticeship, with a focus on repurposing surplus food. Closely comparable to A Just Harvest's Community Kitchen plus AGUA urban-agriculture apprenticeship model.
• DC Central Kitchen: Combines a high-volume community kitchen with a workforce-development culinary apprenticeship for adults facing employment barriers — the same integrated direct-service-plus-job-training model A Just Harvest operates through its Community Kitchen and AGUA Apprenticeship.
• Greater Chicago Food Depository: Chicago-area food bank that supplies A Just Harvest with monthly fresh produce for the Produce Mobile program. Directly comparable as a regional hunger-relief organization addressing food insecurity in the same metropolitan market, though at a substantially larger scale.
• St. Anthony Foundation: San Francisco nonprofit that integrates a free dining program with social services, workforce development, and community organizing. Directly comparable to A Just Harvest's multi-pillar approach of feeding, organizing, and economic development under one roof.
• God's Love We Deliver: New York nonprofit that cooks and home-delivers medically tailored meals to people living with serious illness. Comparable as a community-kitchen-meets-delivery-distribution nonprofit serving vulnerable populations without means-testing barriers.
• Howard Area Community Center (Metropolitan Family Services): Adjacent Chicago Northside social-services organization that A Just Harvest partners with for Monday and Thursday food distribution at 7648 N. Paulina St. Comparable as a multi-service nonprofit providing food, employment, and case-management support to the same Rogers Park community.
• New Life Centers: Chicago-based youth-and-family services nonprofit that partners with A Just Harvest on seasonal coat/clothing distribution. Comparable as a community-rooted Chicago nonprofit providing wraparound services to underserved Northside families.

Others

• WhyHunger: National advocacy and grantmaking organization focused on hunger and poverty root causes. Adjacent to A Just Harvest because both champion community-organizing approaches to addressing systemic causes of food insecurity, rather than direct service alone.

Broad incumbents

• Feeding America: National hunger-relief umbrella organization that supports food banks across the U.S. A Just Harvest's Produce Mobile is indirectly supplied through the Greater Chicago Food Depository, a Feeding America affiliate — making it an adjacent incumbent in the same charitable food network.

Emerging players

• Local Matters: Columbus, Ohio nonprofit combining food education, fresh-produce access, and culinary programming. Comparable in mission overlap (food access + education) though operating in a different geography and at an earlier programmatic stage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/a-just-harvest

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about A Just Harvest