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Spokane Edible Tree Project (SETP) was founded in 2013 by former Harvest VISTA Kate Burke. Through her work in a produce recovery position at Second Harvest Food Bank, she recognized the abundance of fruit trees in Spokane County and noticed that much of this fruit goes to waste. SETP was formed to fill this gap in the system and to empower the community to share the resources that are so abundantly available to them. SETP became a certified 501(c)(3) in 2015. The organization is currently run by community volunteers and a Harvest Against Hunger AmeriCorps VISTA (2016- 2019).

In 2016, SETP recruited their first AmeriCorps member with the Harvest VISTA program at Harvest Against Hunger, who served as the program coordinator for the organization. The second-year AmeriCorps member (2017-2018) expanded the program to include gleaning produce from the Spokane Farmers’ Market. Their third-year AmeriCorps member (2018-2019) continues to coordinate gleaning, outreach, volunteer recruitment, grant-writing, and educational programming. Together, the work of the three AmeriCorps members prevented more than 100,000 pounds of produce from going to waste in Spokane County. Additionally, WSU Extension of Spokane County has been a valuable partner for SETP, supporting and supervising the AmeriCorps member. The extension office has also been an essential partner in developing SETP’s educational program.