Gleaning For Good
Program Age: 3 years
Program Impact: 14,951 lbs of backyard fruit harvested and delivered to Food Banks
Program Partnerships: www.endhunger.org
Program Leadership: Katy Cain
About Us
What We Do
Gleaning for Good is a volunteer organization working in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach counties that aims to reduce food waste and feed the hungry. We believe in 0 food waste. Our objective is to create volunteer teams that will help identify and harvest excess food and get it to hungry people.
In partnership with the Society of St. Andrew (www.endhunger.org), GFG-SoSA volunteers have been picking backyard fruit and taking it to food banks since 2017. The homeowner gets a receipt for the charitable deduction and food bank clients get to enjoy some fresh fruit. Mango, avocado, starfruit and bananas are some of the more common fruits gleaned.
GFG-SoSA also works with small urban farms to harvest any excess that can be utilized by the food banks.
Why We Do It
South Florida residents enjoy a climate that allows for a wide variety of fruit trees. Many homes have at least one fruit tree, and some have several. A mature mango tree can produce 100-200 fruits and fruits can weigh up to 5 lbs. each. An avocado tree can produce 200-300 fruits, and Florida avocados are much larger than the tiny Hass avocados you might see in the grocery store. That’s a lot of fruit for one household!
Gleaning for Good creates a win-win, helping solve the problems of the homeowner, preventing food waste and helping stock food banks with fresh, nourishing foods. We also have a growing population of urban farmers and homesteaders cultivating many prolific fruits and vegetables year round, offering yet another source of extra produce that can be donated.If it is edible and abundant, we can get it to the people who will appreciate it!
Results: GFG-SoSA has picked and taken to food banks 10,700 lbs of fruit in 2020 alone! (As of October 5th, 2020). We believe that this is just a small portion of the fruit available in our area and we look forward to building on this base and making sure every resident of South Florida knows that they don’t have to let their fruit fall and rot.
How Can You Join In?
To volunteer go to: https://endhunger.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/
Contact Katy Cain at sflgleaning@endhunger.org or 954-643-4502 to join the South Florida Volunteer Group, or you can join our master volunteer list at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScM0Nik6sHYcAjSR7JBOGHgmnI3LvuFsXdjdjwzEfDmhJTyZQ/viewform
To donate fruit from one of your trees, please contact
Area Coordinator, Katy Cain at sflgleaning@endhunger.org or
954-643-4502.
Current Program Leadership
Katy Cain
Katy Cain is the South Florida Area Coordinator for SoSA and Gleaning for Good. Katy is also a homeschool mom, educator, doula, yoga teacher, and backyard gardener.