The Share the Harvest program coordinator (job description here) supports interested community gardens in developing plots in a community garden designated for a local food bank/shelter also known as “Giving Gardens”. While many counties may not be able to support a new position, the Share…
It is important to not only increase the availability of fresh, local produce in food banks but also to help educate the food bank population on how to cook, prepare, and store gleaned produce. This is particularly important when gleaning more unusual crops. First and…
Fruit Tree Donor Relations New Fruit Tree donors hear about the program through neighbor donors and word of mouth, tabling at events, newspaper articles, and community talks. A local newspaper highlighted the project in 2012 and brought a handful of new donors. The project has…
Outreach and Recruitment Volunteer outreach and recruitment in Moses Lake were done through social and traditional media outlets. The local radio station, local newspapers, and online news sources were instrumental in spreading the word about the programs leading to volunteer recruitment. Facebook has provided a…
Community Services of Moses Lake did not to turn down any gleaning opportunity the first year. If the donation created saturation for a specific type of produce locally, efforts were made to distribute large quantities of that commodity to another part of the state using…
The greater Moses Lake area has quite a few u-pick farms that have opened in recent years and are still struggling to get off of the ground. By allowing Community Services of Moses Lake to glean, a u-pick farm is able to increase their publicity…
Central Washington has an abundance of commercial orchards and fields, which provide a vast opportunity for produce recovery. The largest hurdle to partner with commercial orchards is the scale necessary to handle such opportunities. For example, a gleaning event took place at a 600-acre orchard….
WSU Extension of Grant/Adams counties approached CSML to determine interest to start a pilot project to recover demonstration produce from the Grant County Fair. The county fair displays an assortment of arts, crafts, and produce for competition. WSU Extension ran the agricultural demonstration building during…
During the promotion of CSML and Harvest Against Hunger at the Moses Lake Farmers Market in August 2015, the AmeriCorps member established a farmers market recovery routine. A number of vendors wondered if they could donate their unsold food to the food bank. At the…
Community Services of Moses Lake (CSML) strives to empower the community to have “Friends helping friends feed the hungry”. CSML houses the Moses Lake Food Bank and is the distribution hub for 33 partner food banks in five counties in Central Washington, including the three…