Dear friends,

What kind of community do we want to be when life gets harder?

Most of us know what it's like to care for someone going through a difficult season. We bring over a meal. We share produce from the garden. We show up because we know healthy food helps people heal, reduces stress, and gives them the strength to keep moving forward.

This Hunger Action Month, we're celebrating the community we've built together—and recognizing why that work has never been more important.

Today, the rising cost of groceries is making healthy food harder for many families to afford. And when nutritious food falls out of reach, it impacts health, financial stability, and the opportunity to build a stronger future.

In our community, we've chosen to respond differently.

Together, neighbors, volunteers, farmers, businesses, and community partners have built innovative solutions that make healthy food more accessible while connecting families to the support they need to move forward. From Food Club and Lakeshore Food Rescue to our Food Club Mobile Market, these programs exist because our community believes healthy food is one of the strongest foundations we can give a family.

This Hunger Action Month, you can help strengthen that foundation.

Help build the community you believe in by:

Becoming a monthly donor to provide a stable foundation for programs that nourish, equip, and empower our neighbors.
Packing meal kits to help families prepare healthy meals together.
Hosting a food drive to help keep Food Club shelves stocked with nutritious staples.

Thank you for the many ways you already show up for your neighbors. Together, we're building a community where healthy food is within reach and every family has the opportunity to build a stronger future.

With gratitude,

Scott Rumpsa | Chief Executive Officer

Program Updates

Financial Wellness

Earlier this year, Levi* connected with our Financial Wellness team while living outdoors. He had a steady job and was working hard to build stability, applying for several apartments. But after many years without renting, a lack of recent rental history became an unexpected barrier.

Despite going to work each day, Levi ended every shift without a safe place to call home. Through it all, he met with our team at Food Club and Refresh, where he found encouragement and trusted partners to walk alongside him as he pursued stability.

Our Financial Wellness team provided reference letters for every apartment application, helping landlords see beyond the gaps in Levi's rental history. Levi remained incredibly persistent—following up on appointments and submitting applications, all while balancing full-time work and the challenges of homelessness.

In July, that perseverance paid off. Levi was approved for an apartment! We connected Levi with our friends at City on a Hill, who helped cover his first month's rent, and our Resale Store provided the essentials he needed to begin this new chapter with confidence. Today, he's continuing to work with our Financial Wellness team to build a budget, grow his savings, and strengthen his financial future.

*Name changed for privacy.

Food Club

Do you remember Alice?

When Alice* first became a Food Club member, she was facing a diabetes diagnosis and needed reliable access to fresh, healthy food. Through Food Club, she found nutritious groceries that fit her health needs, along with Healthy@Home classes that gave her the confidence to prepare healthy meals at home.

Over the years, our Healthy@Home classes continued to be a place where Alice built relationships and discovered new recipes. Today, Alice loves recreating those recipes with her daughter-in-law, and she often volunteers to lead Healthy@Home classes herself—sharing her passion for cooking and encouraging others!

A few years ago, Alice also began meeting with our Financial Wellness team, sharing that she had always hoped to take a special trip, but wasn't sure how to make that dream possible. Together, they created a savings plan and budget that fit her goals. Year after year, Alice committed to the plan, and earlier this summer, she reached her savings goal and was able to take the trip she had dreamed about for years!

This is what Food Club is all about. By providing access to fresh, healthy food, families are able to get connected to nutrition education, one-on-one financial coaching, and partnership in building a future where they can thrive. We are so grateful for Alice and all the ways she’s chosen to be involved in our Food Club community over the years!

*Name and photo changed for privacy

Outreach & Housing Access

When Zoe* first met our Outreach team, a sudden crisis had left her without a place to call home. With no local support system to lean on, each step toward stability felt overwhelming. Together, we helped Zoe replace critical documents needed to apply for housing while making sure she had access to food, clothing, and other necessities.

Through this partnership, Zoe found a team committed to walking alongside her in her journey toward stability.

For years, Zoe navigated the challenges of living outdoors. Throughout that time, the Community Kitchen and Refresh became places where she could find a warm meal and practical support. Our team walked alongside her through every setback and every step forward, becoming part of her support system—because everyone deserves a community that believes in them.

Earlier this year, Zoe stopped by to share exciting news. She had found a room to rent with a local family! While she hopes to have an apartment of her own one day, having a safe place to sleep has given her the stability she needs to keep building toward that goal.

*Name and photo changed for privacy

Food Rescue & Partnerships

Over the course of just two days, our Food Rescue & Partnerships team rescued and redistributed 87,000 pounds of food! The paper chain our team is holding is a visual representation of this work. Each link represents a pallet of food that our team either unloaded from an incoming truck or loaded onto an outgoing truck to be shared with community partners. Together, those links represent a community coming together to make sure good food reaches people instead of landfills!

The food our team moved over these two days came from many generous partners, including a restaurant that was closing, a trucking company carrying rejected freight, local farms, grocery retailers, and more! From there, it was distributed to our Food Club, Community Kitchen, and other nonprofit and church partners across the county, ensuring thousands of pounds of fresh, healthy food reached families across our community.

The expertise and capacity to rescue and redistribute food like this doesn’t exist in every community. We’ve built this together through ongoing partnership and years of investment in this work, and we are incredibly grateful to our staff, partners, and volunteers who make this work possible each day. Together, we’re turning excess food into food access!

Community Kitchen

Last month, we gathered with neighbors, guests, and partners to celebrate the ribbon cutting of our new Community Kitchen location! For more than 32 years, the Community Kitchen has been a place where neighbors find warm meals, connection, and support. Today, we’re excited for the foundation our new home at The Salvation Army will provide.

During the ribbon cutting, we heard from leaders at Community Action House and The Salvation Army, as well as the neighbors who came together to form the Community Kitchen 32 years ago. A space that was born out of hospitality and care for one another has grown, and now has opportunities to create even deeper connection, collaboration, and expanded services in this new space.

We are grateful to everyone who joined us for this celebration, and for the many volunteers, donors, and partners who have made this transition possible.

Resale Store

Hundreds of neighbors joined us for the Grand ReOpening of our original Resale South location last month! Together, we celebrated the hope, health, and stability made possible when we show up together through Resale.

This newly renovated flagship location on Holland's Southside (694 Michigan) now comes together with our brand new Resale Store on Holland’s Northside (650 Riley), to strengthen our ability to connect neighbors with the essentials they need today, while building financial resilience that ensures we can keep showing up for decades to come.

Your support for our Resale Stores, as volunteers, donors, and customers, makes this next big step forward possible. Thank you for helping us lay an even stronger foundation for our shared work.

Weren’t able to join for the Grand ReOpening? You can still help us start off this new chapter strong:

Donate – Your gently used items get a second life—providing essentials for neighbors and generating the funding that keeps our programs strong.
Shop – Every purchase stretches your dollar and fuels ours. If you shopped with us during our Grand ReOpening weekend, be sure to use the coupon you received before September 19!
Volunteer – Share your time and skills to help us keep our store running strong. We're looking for 10 more regular volunteers to join us at our stores each month. As a thank-you for dedicating your time and talent, Resale Store volunteers receive a 35% discount!

Resale Store Hours & Information

Resale South

694 Michigan Ave, Holland 49423

Shopping Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10am-6pm, closed Sunday

Donation Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10am-5pm, closed Sunday

Resale North

650 Riley Street, Holland 49424

Shopping Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10am-6pm, closed Sunday

Donation Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10am-5pm, closed Sunday

Save the Date!

Meijer Simply Give is Back!

Right now, thanks to our friends at Meijer, your donation can be tripled! Up to $5,000 of double-matching funds are available for any gift you make before September 12, TRIPLING your impact for our community.

Donate to Triple Your Impact!

In Case You Missed It

FOX 17: Action House's Southside Resale Store reopens in Holland with upgrades

Last month, FOX 17 shared a segment highlighting our renovated Resale South location and how critical our Resale Stores are in supporting our neighbors.