Menu
The Encinitas Current
  • Home
  • Join Our List
  • Gallery
  • Submit
  • About Us
  • Contact
The Encinitas Current

Senior Gleaners

Posted on July 12, 2018October 28, 2019 by Staff

Retirees Seek Fruit Donors and Volunteers

By Julie Thunder

WHAT’S A GLEANER? For centuries, gleaners have collected food that would otherwise be wasted to feed the hungry. The term originates from the practice of landowners leaving portions of their fields or crops for the poor to harvest to feed their families.

Volunteers picking fruit at a small orchard

The Senior Gleaners of San Diego County need fresh fruit donations and volunteers to feed hungry county residents. Donating fruit saves residents the work of picking and disposing of extra fruit. Donors receive a receipt for tax deduction purposes.

Since 1992, Senior Gleaners volunteers aged 55 or more have gleaned tons of produce annually throughout the county. Besides gleaning produce, the group daily collects unsold products donated by grocers. All the food is provided at no cost to the San Diego Food Bank and similar organizations.

Along with donations of produce, the organization needs volunteers to assist with picking, collection and transportation. Most Gleaners volunteer 3-4 hours one day per week, but there are no required minimum commitments.

Last year San Diego gleaners distributed nearly 252 tons of food, according to Gleaner Board President Monte Turner. “However, in our county alone, at least 500,000 tons of food is wasted annually, adding 18 percent to landfill volumes, while 500,000 people live in poverty,” he said.

Senior gleaners helped the homeowner (right) with her backyard trees

“Rather than compost edible food or dump it in landfills, it makes more sense to support groups like gleaners that will get the food to people who need it,” Turner said.

Turner noted that groups listed on the Website work with various donors with all sizes of orchards: homes with only a couple of backyard trees, small orchards, and farmers with hundreds of trees.

To schedule a crew of Senior Gleaners:
Call 619-633-9180 or e-mail them at SDGleaners@aol.com

Learn more at www.seniorgleanerssdco.org.
Other local gleaners: www.sdfsa.org/gleaning/

Search

Previously

  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018

Further Back

Menu

  • Home
  • Join Our List
  • Gallery
  • Submit
  • About Us
  • Contact

Join Our List

Click here to subscribe

Categories

Tags

101 ab 805 beach beacons Berkich Park blakespear cardiff cardiff elementary city council coastal rail trail election encinitas eusd flood flooding gaspar highway 101 homeless housing housing element jody hubbard julie thunder lagoon lawsuit leichtag leucadia mark muir mayor blakespear olivenhain poetry prop a roberta walker sand sandag san elijo lagoon sduhsd selc sheriff soccer streetscape surf surfing madonna traffic water yoga
2019 The Encinitas Current