Rick Mantei has been a longtime contributor to Harvest Hope Food Bank, from making yearly monetary donations to collecting food donations in his Lexington office location. Last year, Rick donated roughly 50 pounds of food collected from employees and friends. Mantei himself has donated not only food but also from $2,000 to $10,000 per year for over 10 years. In addition, with the exception of 2020 due to COVID-19 creating additional restrictions on volunteer work, Mantei and his team have volunteered each year at the Columbia center, packing boxes of food for transport.

 
As South Carolina’s largest food bank, Harvest Hope provides over 50,000 meals a week to individuals and families in need across 20 counties. It rescues food items from grocery stores and collects donated food to transport and distribute through churches, food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens around the state. It also has established emergency food pantries in Greenville and Columbia to provide food to anyone in need. The group’s mission is to ensure that anyone facing food insecurity can find relief, whether for a short time or because of an ongoing situation.

For more information about Harvest Hope and more ways you can help, visit harvesthope.org, where you can also make a monetary donation directly. From my family to yours, we wish you a safe and plentiful holiday, and we thank you for your generosity in helping give others the gift of the holidays.