Second Harvest Food Bank is looking for some good pickers.
With so many people relying on food banks, Second Harvest co-ordinator Diana Mangold doesn’t want to see any fruit or vegetables going to waste.
Acknowledging that some service groups are already onboard, Mangold has issued a request for other groups, be they young or not-so-young, to help with this year’s picking until the season ends in October.
“If there’s a big group, it only takes an hour to pick instead of two or three or four,” says Mangold, noting Cub Scouts, Brownies, Lady Striders and Rotarians have helped before. “Maybe they’d like to come out as a group one day; everybody who goes out has fun and we have fun and it’s great.”
Individual volunteers are welcome as well and are added to a list and contacted by phone when there is a need for their help.
Daybreak Rotary has been growing and picking veggies for Second Harvest, The Salvation Army Food Bank and the SAFE Society for four years.
Wanting to do something for the community, one of the care groups at Five Corners Pentecostal Church began growing vegetables for Second Harvest this year on a donated space about 80 by 80 feet.
One of the vendors at the local Farmers’ Market also donates produce at the end of the markets on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mangold says the Presbyterian Church and other private individuals have also grown produce for Second Harvest.
If you or your group are interested, call 250-833-4011 to leave a message or email secondharvestshuswap@gmail.com.