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The Greater Wenatchee Area has an abundance of agricultural outlets, particularly with regards to tree fruit. In order to engage larger, local agricultural companies, Community Harvest contacted large packing and processing facilities such as Stemilt, Crunch Pack, and Tree Top. A memo was sent to these organizations and handed out at most outreach events for the year. This effort resulted in a small donation from one of the companies. These efforts will be repeated in an attempt to keep agencies at all levels engaged in the local gleaning project.

In summary, the tactic of Community Harvest is to engage as many different organizations as possible within the greater Wenatchee area in order to increase the visibility of the gleaning project. This has proven successful on many levels including importantly increasing communication between and among hunger relief agencies.

Outreach events

• Tabling at farmers markets
• Earth Day Fairs

Presentations

• Schools (middle schools, high school, and college)
• Service groups
• Faith-based groups

Media

• Facebook – draw upon personal contacts as well as connecting with community organizations
• Radio

Word of mouth

• Use existing contacts and connections – even if organizations are not directly affiliated with hunger relief. This is a project everyone can participate in on some level, make it relatable to the community.

Participating at food banks

• Starting the connection between existing hunger relief agencies
• Seed distribution
• Handing out seeds at food banks engages clients in conversations about gleaning and growing fresh produce. Engaging food bank clients is part of Community Harvest’s goal of encouraging the whole community to work together. In addition, many food bank clients were delighted to be given the opportunity to grow food, possibly in excess that in turn could be brought into the food bank to share.