Our First Year: Astoria Harvest Community Network

Astoria Harvest started in August 2025 with a simple idea:

neighbors feeding neighbors. When proposed SNAP cuts put 828,000 meals a year in Clatsop County at risk,

we grew fast, and we haven't slowed down.

Here's what we built together in our first year.

People

  • Helped more than 750 households and individuals, many on direct request from partner agencies

  • Worked alongside a dozen agencies and other professionals to get help where it was needed

  • Mobilized 75+ volunteers and made hundreds of new connections across the county

Food and growing

  • Distributed 4 tons of food in our first three months alone, including to over 250 individuals and families, partner churches and programs

  • Potted and prepped more than 200 vegetable starts to give away last spring

  • Built a greenhouse with an American Empathy Project grant, turning $1,000 into more than $2,600 of real infrastructure

  • Started a seed bank of 124 open pollinated varieties plus 23 heirloom tomatoes, and a heritage breed flock, all at our farm at Liten Hobbit Stuga

  • Shared about 80 dozen farm fresh eggs from our heritage flock since April. 

Keeping good things in circulation

  • Moved 1,000+ coats and 1,500+ bags and boxes of donations in our first winter

  • Delivered more than three dozen truckloads to the Free For All Market and to neighbors in need

  • Cleared nearly a dozen houses for free, passing everything usable on to people who needed it

  • Kept several tons of items out of the landfill

We started in November with a pantry stock up and food swap event. December followed with a second community pantry stock up, and we added a second location with Thriftmas. Not only was it a hit, but we collaborated with other fantastic folks from North Coast Action and Indivisible, who then spun off to the Free For All Market, took it and ran, grew it into an incredible community resource.

The Free For All Market

The Free For All Market is managed by top tier volunteers and stands apart from Astoria Harvest, completely on its own. You can access the Free For All Market at 491 Industry St. in Astoria every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month from 10a to 2p. Donations and shopping are both encouraged!

We are still donating to the Free For All Market, and helping stock it with clothing, household goods, and the small luxuries that make a house a home. Thanks to our community and donors, we keep reaching people who need them. Drop off and shop on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays at 491 Industry St.

What's next : October 2026 forward

We're gearing up to begin parsing even more donations to the newly formed Art Co-op and the Tool Lending Library. Through Root & Refuge, our garden matching program, we have a long list of neighbors ready to connect: people with land to share and people who want to grow food on it.

This fall we're bringing the community together again:

  • October 13: canned food drive at Breakside Brewery

  • Through December 16: coat drive across the Astoria School District

  • November 14: benefit concert at The Legion

Our garden got a late start this year, and volunteers are already lined up to break ground across the county in spring.

Fund our farmer

This fall, we are seeking to hire a full time, professional farm manager with decades of experience to join Astoria Harvest as our Operations Manager. It will be our one paid position, running the daily farm so more food reaches more tables across Clatsop County. Join the Farm Manager Circle with a monthly gift of $100, or any amount, and help keep a farmer on the land.

Clearing out a home?

If you're downsizing, settling an estate, or clearing out a household, call us before you call a hauler. We'll come to you, sort through what you have, match items to the neighbors and families who need them, and deliver them directly, at no cost to you. Nothing usable ends up in the landfill, and your things go on to make someone else's house a home.

Help keep the truck rolling

All of our volunteer time for Astoria Harvest is given freely; we don't take payment for time to clear. gather or deliver for the community. What it does cost is gas and vehicle maintenance: every pickup, every delivery, every truckload to the Free For All Market. A gift of any size toward fuel and upkeep keeps free things moving to the people who need them.

To schedule a pickup, donation, or to give:  

  • call or text Emily at  503.502.1689

  • leave a message at 503.836.7633 

  • learn more about us at astoriaharvest.org