What does community mean to you? At Hillwood Communities, it means fostering a connected culture of belonging. This type of culture grows organically, when we engage with neighbors, share an enriching lifestyle, and reach out to help others, both in our neighborhood and through community-based philanthropy.
Each of Hillwood’s lifestyle communities chooses a philanthropic partner who receives support on an ongoing basis. We believe communities are strongest when they’re reaching out, and nowhere is this more in evidence than at Harvest by Hillwood in Argyle/Northlake, Texas, whose partnership with the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) does more than provide meals. It creates community.
Food insecurity is more prevalent than you might think, even here in North Texas. In fact, the North Texas Food Bank’s service area, which covers 13 counties, ranks fifth highest in the nation for food insecurity, with more than 686,000 people facing hunger during 2022, and fourth highest in the U.S. for kids facing hunger (257,030 children) during the same year. That’s one in eight people and one in five children who aren’t sure where their next meal is coming from.
The North Texas Food Bank aims to change this by fulfilling its mission to close the hunger gap in North Texas by providing access to nutritious food. The NTFB uses several programs to this end, including:
Interested in volunteering with the North Texas Food Bank? Check out the variety of volunteer opportunities available, both in person and virtual.
As you may know, Harvest is one of the first “agrihoods” in the country: a place where we nurture the land and the community, partly through our on-site farm and community gardens. So it makes sense that one of the ways Harvest supports the North Texas Food Bank is by participating in its Partner Gardens program. These community gardens play an especially important function at the food bank. The 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans reports that around 90 percent of Americans do not meet the recommendation for eating vegetables, and 80 percent eat too little fruit. Fresh produce is a powerhouse of nutrients, but food banks don’t get enough of it. That’s where gardens like Harvest’s come in.
Like other partner gardens, Harvest sets aside plots in its community garden that are dedicated to growing food specially for the NTFB. Harvest volunteers maintain the five plots, donating the entire yield to the food bank. And because there is a working commercial farm at Harvest, we are also able to designate two fields for the benefit of NTFB, helping to ensure that the agency’s clients have access to fresh produce.
Harvest’s partnership with NTFB doesn’t end there. Harvest neighbors also support the food bank with donations. We raise money through traditional campaigns, and make our contributions count even more by participating in Giving Tuesday.
But we also found ways to make Harvest philanthropy fun, which makes doing something good doubly rewarding. Here are just a few examples:
And because we believe that community-based philanthropy should begin early, the Harvest Teen Council also helps collect donations of food and funds for the food bank through numerous events, such as the Peanut Butter Drive. Attendees at teen-organized events, like the Halloween and back-to-school parties are asked to donate canned goods for the food bank as the price of admission.
Perhaps the largest teen-led philanthropy event is Hoops for Hunger, our annual basketball challenge between Harvest and our sister community, Pecan Square. The teens handle everything from registration to signage to rules to brackets to prizes. Each year, Hoops for Hunger raises enough money to provide hundreds of meals for those in need.
Harvest Philanthropy even includes kids! Of course, they get to participate in all the events above, but there are also fun collection events just for them, like food bank scavenger hunts, where budding community philanthropists collect nonperishable food items like tuna, peanut butter, and canned fruits and vegetables.
If you want a home in a neighborhood where community-based philanthropy is part of everyday life, where kids learn to pay it forward, and where neighbors care about each other, come home to Harvest by Hillwood in Argyle/Northlake. Our agrihood has new construction homes available and we’d love to have you play a role in Harvest’s philanthropy and community. Many of our builders are offering incentives, so now is a great time to buy!