Written by Katie Allen, Grow A Row Coordinator VISTA Grow-A-Row collects donations from home growers, community gardens, and vendors at the farmer’s markets. Shoutouts in the newsletter and Facebook posts are how donors see how much they are providing, and some receive thank you cards….
Outreach OCCAC repeated the outreach strategy of the first Harvest VISTA member. This included off-season recruitment tactics focused on agricultural association meetings, trainings, and farmers market presence. Communication by a gleaning spokesperson, in this case, the Harvest VISTA, who is knowledgeable or experienced with farming…
Spokane Edible Tree Project has a tree registry with a network of about 150 residential tree owners. They also work with numerous orchards in Spokane County. Various methods are used to recruit and engage tree owners throughout the year. Outreach. SETP’s backyard fruit tree outreach…
Donor Outreach Farmers’ markets: Walk around markets and mingle; talk to the growers or if someone else is selling for a farmer, find out the farmer’s name and phone number. This is also a good way to see what is grown in the area Farm…
Dealing with Overabundance Yakima County is first in the nation for the number of fruit trees. The region produces more apples, mint, winter pears, and hops than any other county in the US; other major crops include cherries, apricots, peaches, beef, wheat, and wine. In…
Outreach The first step to reestablish the gleaning program for the second harvest season is discovering all the farms that might be potential donors. Here on the Olympic Peninsula, several outreach methods were employed to establish the donor base for Jefferson County Gleaning Program. They…
It is never too early to start working on donor outreach. Unlike the growing of fruits and vegetables, building relationships with farmers, farmer’s market managers, and property owners have no off-season. Make it a routine goal to attend farmer’s markets, talk with local farmers, and…
Everybody works hard to earn a living and to provide for themselves and others. In terms of a gleaning program, this includes the volunteers in the fields, food banks, and everyone in between. When a farmer has planned a season in advance, purchased from seed,…
Outreach Within the first year of a gleaning program, it is advantageous to send out information to potential collaborating farms during the offseason. During the off-season, a farmer would be more likely to catch an email or letter or have the time to meet in…
Thurston County Food Bank (TCFB) has been gleaning between 40 and 60,000 lbs of produce each year, thanks to a few key donors. TCFB works primarily with six growers (5 small-scale commercial farms and 1 service club that grows solely for the food bank). In…
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