Volunteers are essential to the success of most all gleaning projects. In its first year, Community Harvest relied primarily on a small group of dedicated volunteers, so the second season was successfully focused on expanding the program’s volunteer base. In 2014, Community Harvest moved locations; as…
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…
Throughout its three years, Community Harvest has connected with a range of donors including small- to medium-sized independent farmers who sell to local markets, backyard producers, plant-a-row gardeners, farmers market vendors, and a handful of large scale orchardists. Establishing a large and varied donor base…