In order to utilize Seattle’s fruit trees to their best and fullest use, City Fruit harvests both quality, market ready fruit, and bruised, windfallen, and pest damaged fruit. City Fruit partners with meal programs, cider companies, and bakeries, who can process damaged fruit into cider,…
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 team to pick up the harvested fruit. All tree…
Through City Fruit’s Harvest Program, their team and volunteers harvest roughly 40,000 pounds of fruit annually — good fruit that would otherwise go to waste — and redistribute this quality, local fruit throughout Seattle so it can be shared with the community. Harvesting produce from…
The Harvest VISTA worked alongside the Senior Program and Education Manager to create a schedule of monthly work parties that will take place at any of the 14 parks City Fruit stewards. Depending on the season, tasks can range from digging tree circles and mulching…
Education is a large part of outreach and brand recognition at City Fruit. Trainings and community courses help raise awareness about the urban fruit tree canopy and can reduce food waste from productive trees. These classes are available to the public and marketed through social…
The AmeriCorps VISTA worked alongside the Orchard Steward Coordinator to create a schedule of monthly work parties at the 14 parks City Fruit stewards. The VISTA determined the site needs and recruited volunteers using various outreach mechanisms. In general winter activities include restoration, pruning, weeding and clearing…
Every year, City Fruit harvests fruit from hundreds of privately owned fruit trees throughout Seattle. Each spring, the Harvest Team contacts all tree owners registered in City Fruit’s Salesforce database. Over time, 7,000 privately owned trees have been registered in their system. City Fruit communicates…
To effectively establish and showcase your organization, it’s important to be intentional about your outreach efforts. City Fruit uses the following strategies to engage with the public: Social Media City Fruit maintains a presence on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. On the platforms receiving high…
Volunteer relations are managed by City Fruit’s Community Growth and Impact Manager and the Community Outreach and Education Coordinator. Volunteers sign-up through City Fruit’s website, which directs them to TimeCounts, where all volunteer hours and data are tracked. Due to COVID-19, volunteer events have been…