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Every fall, to commemorate the end of the harvest season, and thank volunteers, donors, and community partners, City Fruit hosts a fundraising event called “Celebrates.” From this event, City Fruit raises money to fund their Harvest Program. Previously, Celebrates was an in-person cider tasting event, featuring a variety of local ciders, with food and desserts from local restaurants and bakeries. The event included a raffle, auction, and presentation showcasing the highlights of the harvest season. In 2020, due to COVID-19, Celebrates pivoted to a night of virtual programming and a socially distanced pick-up of ciders. This past spring, the City Fruit team started planning Celebrates as a fundraising gala with stand-up comedy, live music, and a catered dinner. As cases of the COVID-19 delta variant increased in Seattle, the team decided in August to restructure the event.

On Saturday, November 6th from 11am to 3pm, Celebrates 2021 will take place at the City Fruit office. It will be a drop-in event, where folks can pick up packages of local cider, fruit-infused beers, mini-growlers, and 33 Books Co. ceramic cider mugs. Guests will receive free vegan ice cream from the Seattle ice cream shop, Frankie & Jo’s. Guests will also have the opportunity to participate in an auction, bidding on desserts made from local bakeries (cakes, tartes, and cupcakes!), and on items including Mariners tickets and Alaska Airlines tickets.

This year’s Celebrates event will also be an opportunity for the City Fruit team to showcase their new office. After working remotely and ending their lease at their previous office due to COVID-19, City Fruit opened a new office in July. With a larger office than before, City Fruit has a place to store and sort fruit during the harvest season. The office also provides a location for community members to pick-up fruit directly. During the harvest season, City Fruit regularly offers the community “fruit giveaways” for fruit that the local food banks are unable to distribute, due to capacity. In October, to brighten up the office and put a City Fruit spin on it, the team painted the walls green and yellow.

While Celebrates has undergone multiple iterations in response to COVID-19, the City Fruit team is excited to bring the community together safely and welcome volunteers, donors, community partners to their new office to celebrate the end of the harvest season, with ciders, fruit infused beers, and desserts!