Community Service
GLEANING TO FEED THE LOCAL HUNGRY 2008
After experiencing (and enjoying) gleaning as a club activity in 2007, the Minisink Critters unanimously agreed to join Stiles again this fall in harvesting leftover crops from local farms as our main community service activity. The produce, donated by the farms and harvested by our club members, was delivered to local emergency food programs which serve meals and provide food to needy individuals and families in our very own community.
There are thousands of pounds of produce that are left in Orange County’s fields and orchards because the vegetables and fruits are not cosmetically attractive. Farmers cannot afford the labor expense to harvest produce that has no market value, yet they are willing to donate it to emergency food programs. To acquire this produce, crews of volunteers to field-glean, package and transport the product is necessary. The Minisink Critters helped to provide this labor.
Our first club gleaning took place on October 12th, 2008 to harvest butternut squash at Pawelski Farms in Goshen. The Minisink Critter’s boys and girls, ages 5 to 12, worked with eagerness and enthusiasm for about three hours. There was little need for direction from the adults who accompanied the group! The club members organized themselves into small groups to effectively collect the squash from sections of the field and were able to cover more ground than expected due to their excellent teamwork. Club members constructed the produce boxes, harvested the squash to fill the boxes, then assisted with loading the crates into the box truck (GleanMobile!). The club filled about 45 boxes with squash on that day. This translates into 2,528 lbs which is 3,370 servings. All of the squash was delivered to the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley for distribution to soup kitchens and food pantries in five counties of our region.
On November 9th, 2008, the Minisink Critters gathered at Sleep Hills Orchard in Johnson for a second gleaning opportunity, this time harvesting apples. Once again, after the club members were given directions from Stiles Najac on what to pick and where to pick, they quickly coordinated their efforts and began assembling the boxes, picking the fruit, and packing the boxes. They then loaded the filled boxes into the club leader’s truck for transport to the GleanMobile. The club members then helped Stiles transfer the boxed fruit into the GleanMobile. They worked diligently for about three hours. Their efforts yielded a total of 1,795 pounds of fresh apples (equivalent to 2,393 servings).
In addition to our club’s group gleaning efforts, some club members picked sweet corn at Pennings Farm in Warwick on September 19th, 2008 where 690 pounds of corn was harvested and donated to the St. Francis of Assisi food pantry in Newburgh.
In total, the members of the Minisink Critters club picked 5,013 pounds of produce this season. This translates to 6,700 servings of nutritious locally grown food – food that might have simply rotted in the field, but instead, fed the local hungry.
In 2007, the Minisink Critters participated in two separate gleaning events with the county’s Food Security Coordinator, on October 20th and November 11th, 2007. On October 20th, the nine member club (ages 5 – 9) gathered at Dolan’s Orchard. They picked for approximately three hours and gathered a grand total of 1,955 pounds of apples. While picking apples, the club members learned how to use the picking baskets, and maintained their enthusiasm and energy levels enough to pose for a “William Tell” portrait. It was an amazing day, and so much fun!
In addition, while transporting the apples from the orchard fields to the bins near the warehouse, the leader and a few members invited a family of four to join them in the gleaning efforts. Within several minutes, the family was walking to the gleaning section of the orchard and pitching in with the apple picking. The total 1,955 pounds of apples were donated to Project Discovery and The Food Bank of Hudson Valley. Project Discovery is affiliated with Easter Seals and provides food to needy families once a month through their outreach program. The Food Bank of the Hudson Valley servers five counties’ food pantries and soup kitchens, and is affiliated with New England Food Bank in Albany.
In addition to this feat, the Minisink Critters signed up for a second gleaning effort at Sleepy Hills Orchard on November 11th. This time the club picked 1,875 pounds of apples within two hours. Total apples picked combined from both gleaning efforts was 3,830 pounds! An average of ¾ pounds equals one serving, therefore Minisink Critters’ gleaning efforts were able to provide 5,106 servings for the various local food pantries, soup kitchens, and outreach programs with the local area. All volunteers counted, what would have taken one person a full week to accomplish, was done in a few hours by our terrific and enthusiastic 4H-ers.