ProjectGreenLancaster

By Lucas Miller

New Sustainability Project in Reading, PA.

The Our City Reading non-profit organization aims to renovate ‘GoggleWorks II’ into a new sustainable building for the Helping Harvest foundation.

 

 

 

 

 

Building Area for the new Community Kitchen

Photo by Lucas Miller

 

The Helping Harvest Foundation based out of Berks County, Pennsylvania, has been donating food to the hungry since 1983. Helping Harvest donates food to Senior Programs, Youth Programs, and partner agencies in Berks and Schuylkill County. Our City Reading (OCR) is a non-profit organization in Reading, Pennsylvania spearheaded by the late Albert Boscov.  OCR has continued to operate under the direction of Albert’s nephew, Jim Boscov, CEO of Boscov’s Department Store.  OCR has spent more than 20 years creating a more sustainable living area for citizens in the City of Reading.  OCR is partnering with Helping Harvest (HH) to renovate and improve a blighted building for their new Community Kitchen. The new building project by OCR not only brings a collaborative effort with HH, but also will expand the GoggleWorks Art Center (GWAC) classrooms new home for Reading Science Center (RSC) and 9 affordable apartments.

 

The renovation of GoggleWorks II will bring the two-decade long project of renovating the “Entertainment Square” in Reading to a close. This addition will enhance the area which includes the Reading IMAX 11, The GWAC and The GoggleWorks Apartments, Centro Hispano and United Way of Berks County. The goal to renovate the blighted  GoggleWorks II (GWII)  is to bring the 51,000 square-foot building back to life. Since the building has been vacant for many decades, it is filled with contaminants such as asbestos and lead paint. With the revitalization to the GWII, the currently hazardous building will be remediated and will be put to good use by the Helping Harvest and other community based organizations.

 

The proposed project includes a revised area on the first floor of GWII that will become HH Community Kitchen. In addition to the kitchen area, the first floor will also offer space to clients and staff with offices.

• The Community Kitchen offers culinary skills for citizens leaving rehabilitation centers and those who need job training.
• The Community Kitchen is staffed with culinary instructors and a social worker which will provide job placements for the members of the culinary skills training.
• The employees in the Community Kitchen will help to package food and distribute the food through HH’s donation network in Berks and Schuylkill County. In the City of Reading, nearly 40% of the residents live below the poverty line, the new Helping Harvest building provides workforce opportunities for Reading’s residents as well as more accessible food assistance.
• The first floor of the Helping Harvest Annex building will be the home of the new Berks County Intermediate Unit (BCIU) with classrooms for head start and pre-k students.

The second floor of the revitalized GoggleWorks II building will become a larger area for the RSC to operate. The RSC was created in 2018, with the goal of presenting interactive science exhibits to local school children in the City of Reading. The new renovations will nearly double the size of the current RSC, allowing for a larger space for school children to visit the exhibits. The RSC currently holds 45 exhibits, with the potential of adding more in the new building. The final part of the proposed plan for GWII includes renovations for the GWAC. The goals for the expansion of the GWAC include more space for growing Educational Programs, safe spaces for afterschool programs, hosting STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology, Math) activities in the Arts Center, along with Career Development for students.

 

 

The funding opportunities continue finalization while the scope of working continues to expand, the project’s timeline is as follows:

• June – December 2024: Finalize design and planning.
• June – December 2024: Finalize funding applications and financing.

• February 2024: Begin remediation work on building.
• January – January 2025: Complete all construction on building’s structure and mechanicals.
• March 2025: Complete fit out of first floor space for Helping Harvest.
• March 2025: Helping Harvest begins operation of Community Kitchen.
• March 2025 – December 2026: Complete fit out for tenants on HHA floors one through four.

 

The Vice President of Construction for ‘Our City Reading’; Garreth Donly

The process behind the project planning for the GoggleWorks building renovations involves many key members of ‘Our City Reading’. Laying the foundation for a new and improved kitchen for Helping Harvest takes years of planning, before construction begins. Garreth Donly, the VP of Construction for OCR has played a large role in the production of the GoggleWorks II project. (continued below)

Entrance to the GoggleWorks II building.

Photo by Lucas Miller

Donly earned a degree in Construction Management at Brigham Young University (BYU), where he would later carry his skills to a job with the Boscov’s Department Store. Donly, now the Vice President of Construction for Our City Reading, has contributed towards many projects by the organization. With Donly’s contributions and expertise, OCR has completed the First Time Homebuyer Program, The DoubleTree Hilton Hotel, and The GoggleWorks Arts Center.

 

 

‘Shapiro Administration Invests Nearly $500,000 to Support Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank’s New Community Kitchen in Reading – PA’ 

On September 20th, 2024, The Shapiro Administration completed their donation towards the Helping Harvest Community Kitchen in Reading, PA. The Shapiro Administration invested nearly $500,000 to support the project of building an improved Community Kitchen for The Helping Harvest Foundation. With the assistance of The Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP), the renovations of the vacant building become possible. In Josh Shapiro’s 2024 state budget, the numbers doubled from $36 million to $72 million, allowing for donations such as these through the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). With the help of the donation from the Shapiro Administration, the Helping Harvest Community Kitchen renovations are on track to be finalized. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Building area for the Reading Science Center

Photo by Lucas Miller

The leader of The Helping Harvest Foundation; Jay Worrall

In 2019 The Helping Harvest Foundation saw its longtime head of staff, Peg Bianca, retire after serving since 1989. Helping Harvest then went on to hire a new leader in October of 2019, Jay Worrall. Worrall formerly served as the Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity in Berks County, as well as the Director of the Holleran Center for Community Engagement at Alvernia University in Reading, PA. Worrall has brought his experience of working with nonprofit organizations such as the Pottstown Area YMCA among other nonprofit boards in Berks County to his role with Helping Harvest. During his time with Alvernia, Worrall managed community service and Sustainability Initiatives. Now with Helping Harvest, Jay Worrall looks to provide for the needs of food insecure families in Berks County. 

 

 

‘New Journey Community Outreach’ in Reading, PA.

The Helping Harvest Foundation is not the only nonprofit food bank in the city of Reading, PA. A few blocks away from The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, where Helping Harvest’s new community kitchen will be located, is The New Journey Community Outreach. The New Journey Community Outreach, established in 2014, provides a weekly food pantry to food insecure citizens in Reading. New Journey Community Outreach (NJCO) began in response to the closing of The New Journey United Methodist Church, and since then NJCO provides food and clothing to low income families in Reading. 

 

Graphic providing information on the percentages of poverty and hunger in Berks and Schuylkill County

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References