Who we are
A newly-formed board, in the county where this disease is most common, funding the earliest part of the research.
The Harvest of Compassion Foundation is a nonprofit in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, led by a newly-formed board. It received 501(c)(3) status in 2026.
Duane Zimmerman · John Stoltzfus Jr. · Jordan Martin · Travis Horning · Mike Stoltzfus
To provide children around the world with the opportunity to flourish.
A child born with a genetic condition such as MSUD grows up with a measured diet, regular blood tests, and trips to the hospital whenever they get sick. Flourishing means a childhood that is not organized around a lifetime of treatment.
Funding research and treatment for rare genetic conditions.
Six core values guide the work.
Our core values
- Stewardship
Using entrusted resources with maximum effectiveness, leanness, and speed.
- Enabling
Collecting, discerning, and distributing funds in a way that multiplies the impact of the researchers and caregivers doing the work.
- Humility
No task is beneath us; we cheerfully support our community and each other.
- Transparency
Open books, full accountability.
- Communication
Addressing things directly, kindly, and promptly, internally and externally.
- Global perspective
These conditions affect children everywhere, not only within the plain community; our stewardship and our story should reflect that.
Harvest of Compassion is an independent organization. It works with clinics and research organizations, and it does not develop or sell therapies.
How the money moves
- Early researchDonations fund patient data, natural history, and the preclinical groundwork a gene therapy program needs before it can begin.
- Treatment accessOnce a therapy exists, funding helps clinics and families who cannot reach it on their own.
- Programs for familiesClinics and organizations can request funding for programs that serve affected families, such as a family day. These programs can be funded throughout the research and treatment work, not only after a therapy becomes available.
Where the work reaches
These conditions affect children everywhere, not only within the plain community. The work starts in Lancaster County, where MSUD is most common, and reaches toward families in Brazil, Portugal, Turkey, the Philippines and beyond. See where MSUD occurs.
