The Second Harvest food bank would like to provide people with fresh fruit and vegetables, but its efforts are hampered by a scarcity of volunteers.
Manager Vahlleri Semeniuk said the pandemic depleted Second Harvest’s supply of volunteers in all areas, one of them gleaning fruit.
She said with an aging volunteer population, some who have recently decided not to volunteer, there’s a shortage of people willing to pick fruit.
“The fruit is being spoiled; it’s just falling off the vine.”
What she’s hoping for are youth groups, church groups or youth sports teams which might wish to do community service.
“It’s a great opportunity for youth to give back to their community and learn about volunteering,” Semeniuk said. “It’s become a generational art.”
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Semeniuk said Second Harvest is also looking for people who have fruit trees that need gleaning, but the organization needs fruit that is still on the tree and will require a week or two of lead time to set up people to pick. She said they will also pick vegetables.
Apples and some pears are what’s available for picking right now.
Semeniuk adds that if people have cherries they want picked in the future, the organization requests that all cherries be sprayed because some are badly damaged by insects.
She said the Shuswap Food Action Society is also involved, and her organization would like to be able to help that group as well.
Volunteers are requested to have their own transportation, but Second Harvest has ladders and boxes that volunteers can pick up and bring back.
If you would like to volunteer, or have fruit that needs picking, you’re asked to call Second Harvest at 250-833-4011 or email secondharvestshuswap@gmail.com
martha.wickett@saobserver.net
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