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…
The Emergency Food Distribution Program at Olympic Community Action Program (OlyCAP) provides food storage and delivery to twelve food banks and three meal programs in Jefferson and Clallam Counties. The Emergency Food Distribution Program operates a 2500 square foot warehouse just outside of Port Townsend, and owns…
2015 marks the second year of the gleaning project, but the first year for WSU Extension Jefferson County sponsorship (the previous year the gleaning project went by a different name). Therefore, a great deal of marketing was employed to promote both the concept of gleaning…
Recruiting volunteers for gleaning on the Olympic Peninsula is a test of persistence and creativity. There are no cities here and no big colleges or universities, and overall it is not very densely populated. Yet, there are many ways to spread the word about the…
Promotional materials are a must. Develop handouts and flyers for potential volunteers and donors. Materials can inform both groups and the general public or can target one group at a time. Flyers can be a poster-like and/or pull tab. For events, it’s great to have…
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,…
Set up volunteer recruitment policies If working within another agency, utilize the volunteer manager or recruiter, and learn the volunteer recruitment procedures regarding training (onsite training or offsite before glean), background checks, court-ordered volunteers, discuss potential risks of the program and create parameters and policies…
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…