Written by Jordyn Egbert, Fundraising and Development Specialist VISTA As part of City Fruit’s Harvest Program, they offer community members the opportunity to participate in their U-Pick Program. This program provides tree owners the ability to harvest their tree and then contact the City Fruit…
Written by Jordyn Egbert, Fundraising and Development Specialist VISTA. Updated by Jeanie Neumann, Fundraising and Development Specialist VISTA. Through City Fruit’s Harvest Program, their team and volunteers harvest roughly 25,000 to 40,000 pounds of fruit annually (this varies year to year, depending on weather) —…
The mission of the Community Harvest gleaning project is to increase access to healthy local produce. The primary way this is accomplished is through gleaning produce that is distributed through the regional distribution warehouse center to food banks in Chelan and Douglas counties. However, aside…
When coordinating gleaning efforts in fruit growing areas, paying particular attention to orchardists as potential donors will likely provide a continual source of gleaning opportunities. While gleaning in orchards can result in an impressive increase in fresh fruit available in your regional emergency food system,…
Record-Keeping may not be the most exciting topic, but keeping good records is critical to the long-term success of any gleaning program. Records will allow you to easily reference what happened in previous years, help you show progress to sponsors and funders, and provide easy…
Field Training and Farm Etiquette Every glean includes field training for volunteers and reviewing farm etiquette, as well as any special harvesting instructions from the farmer. (*Note: all gleaning coordinators should check with the farmer for special instructions on harvesting crops.) The success of a gleaning…
The first attempt to recover produce from the Thursday night Chelan Farmers’ Market yielded mixed results. The Farmers Market Manager was enthusiastic about gleaning produce, and also allowed the use of the Farmers Market information table for Community Harvest materials. A donation box was set…
The Clark County Food Bank gleaning program began in 2012 with the help of 90 enlisted volunteers, 20 growers, 12 donors, and 9 gleaning event hosts. They are always working to expand their farm base in “keeping it local.” Volunteering with a gleaning project is…
There are seven farmer’s markets in Clark County. Currently, there are two produce recovery stations: one at the downtown Vancouver Farmers market and another at the Salmon Creek Farmers Market. Together, these markets have over 300 vendors and attract thousands of patrons every year. This…
During the summers of 2014 and 2015, Clark County Food Bank participated in Harvest Against Hunger’s (formally Rotary First Harvest) Farm to Food Pantry Program, which provided a small grant to purchase produce from local farmers. The grant money served multiple purposes. First, Clark County…