Every day, the United States disposes of millions of pounds of unused food. Every day, millions of Americans go hungry.

A local organization is working toward bridging that gap between surplus and need, supply and demand.

Blessings of Hope's mission is to end world hunger, or at least minister to the dietary needs of as many citizens of this country that it can. Blessings of Hope operates out of a 44,000-square-foot warehouse on Becker Road, Leola, and is planning a 160,000-square-foot food processing/distribution center east of Ephrata. The organization is headed by New Holland natives and brothers David Lapp, Steve Lapp and Jake Lapp, as well as founder Aaron Fisher of Kirkwood.

"We think there's more than enough food for people not to go hungry," said David, Blessings of Hope's CEO. "Basically, what we do is acquire large volumes of food and make it available to nonprofits. I'm not sure why we're wasting so much food, but if businesses donate it instead of getting rid of it, it's a win-win for everybody."

Blessings of Hope services an area within a 200-mile radius of Lancaster County and, in 2020, opened a satellite operation in Campbellsville, Ky. The organization works with 200 donors and helps supply 700 partner ministries, like food banks, church pantries and other community nonprofits.

Through the direct work of its partner ministries, Blessings of Hope helps provide about 70,000 meals each day.

"Our focus is to serve the organizations that reach people in need," said David. "It's about being able to serve people in their time of need and get them back on their feet. It's really hard to tell how many people we've reached over the years."

Picking up and delivering food donations can be a "logistical challenge," noted David. Blessings of Hope tackles that challenge with 50 pieces of mechanical equipment that include a fleet of trucks, along with 70 employees and an army of volunteers.

"We have a great team of people who are putting this all together," said David. "I guess the message is 'If you're not sure how to change something, start out by doing something right. If we can influence the people around us, we can have an impact for the good.'"

In some ways, Blessings of Hope's mission is already well engaged. In others, it's still in its infancy.

Blessings of Hope's roots can be traced to 2010, when Fisher began handing out seven boxes of food per week to local families in need. In 2020, Blessings of Hope distributed more than 65 million pounds of food.

"We knew it would grow, but not this fast," said David. "We've always thought it could get big because of the availability of product. We think we're just starting to grow. We think it could turn into a national organization serving cities around the country."

For additional information about Blessings of Hope, go to http://www.blessingsofhope.com.