Nightingales Harvest was founded in 2011, in memory of Kim Mardini-Channer, to provide free pantry services to people in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan experiencing a cancer diagnosis.  

Cancer is no longer a terminal diagnosis for most patients. Cancer patients and survivors are now able to go back to work, celebrate another birthday, hold another grandchild, and live another year as a survivor. More than 10% of the nearly one million cancer survivors living in the United States reside in Northwest Ohio. Good nutrition can help boost survival rates and shorten recovery time in patients undergoing treatment for cancer. Likewise, good personal hygiene and cleanliness of the home environment are vital for patients with greater susceptibility to infection due to lowered immunity from treatment.

Unfortunately, financial hardship often accompanies a cancer diagnosis – be it from the cost of the treatment itself or in lost wages when the patient or caregiver has to stop working. While a number of cancer-related organizations exist in our region to provide assistance, there are gaps in the services available to cancer patients and their families. Nightingales Harvest addresses a critical gap in the services and resources available by operating the only food pantry in the region that provides perishable and non-perishable foods, personal hygiene items, and home cleaning products at no cost to households experiencing cancer in Northwest Ohio and Southeastern Michigan.