Coastal Maine · since 2009

Nobody in this harbor goes hungry tonight.

Harborlight runs the food bank, winter heat fund, and after-school kitchen for seven towns along the bay. Ninety-one cents of every dollar reaches a neighbor within fourteen days.

Give once or monthly See where it goes

Volunteers packing produce boxes at the harbor pantry

Meals served this winter128,400

Give in thirty seconds

Choose an amount. See exactly what it buys.

Every gift is unrestricted where the need is sharpest — but we will always tell you what it did. Donors receive a one-page impact note each quarter, written by the program leads, not a marketing team.

✓ Monthly giving covers our most predictable costs
✓ Cancel or change any time, no phone call
✓ Tax receipt emailed instantly — EIN on file

Last fiscal year, audited

The numbers we publish whether or not they flatter us.

91¢

of each dollar to programs

4,180

households served

days, gift to grocery shelf

312

volunteers on the roster

Open campaigns

Three things we are raising for right now.

Each campaign closes when it is funded. We do not keep collecting for a full jar.

Urgent · closes Nov 30

Winter Heat Fund

Emergency oil and propane deliveries for households that have run out mid-season. Last winter we filled 214 tanks.

$43,200 raisedof $60,000

Children eating at a long table in a community kitchen

Program

After-School Kitchen

A hot meal and a quiet table for 90 kids every weekday, in the two schools without a cafeteria program.

$21,600 raisedof $45,000

A delivery van parked outside the pantry

Capital

The Second Van

Our one refrigerated van covers 340 miles a week. A second one lets us add the two island routes we keep turning down.

$14,300 raisedof $55,000

A volunteer and a neighbor talking over a box of groceries

How the work actually goes

We are small enough to know the names.

There is no intake queue and no means test at the harbor pantry. A neighbor walks in, takes what their family needs, and the case worker — usually Dana, sometimes Ruth — asks one question: is anything else broken this week?

That question is the whole program. It is how the heat fund started in 2011, and how we learned that half the households skipping meals were also skipping a prescription.

I came for a box of groceries in March and left with the oil tank filled and a job lead. I volunteer Thursdays now. It is the same room, I am just on the other side of the table. — Marisol T., pantry volunteer since 2023

Join a Thursday shift

Come stand in the room

Upcoming events

Sep14

Harbor Supper — annual fundraiser

6:00 pm · Fishermen's Hall, Rockport · $75 seat, tables of eight

Reserve

Oct02

Pantry deep-clean & restock day

9:00 am–1:00 pm · 14 Dock Street · Volunteers welcome, no signup needed

Volunteer

Nov21

Thanksgiving box packing

8:00 am · Warehouse B · 60 volunteer slots, families encouraged

Take a slot

Volunteer

Four hours a month moves more than you would guess.

No experience, no interview, no minimum commitment. Show up once and see whether it fits. Most of our roster started by packing boxes on a Saturday and never quite stopped.

Roles open now: pantry floor, delivery driving (own vehicle), after-school kitchen prep, grant writing, Saturday warehouse.

Where the money went

Radical, boring transparency.

Fiscal year 2025, from the independent audit. The full 990 and the auditor's letter are linked at the bottom of this page — not buried three clicks deep.

Read the full audit (PDF)

Food purchase & distribution58%

Heat & emergency assistance21%

After-school kitchen12%

Administration6%

Fundraising3%

The quarterly note

One page, four times a year, written by the people doing the work.

No appeals between letters. We promise.