The Earthwise Society is looking to expand its Shared Harvest program.
Shared Harvest links fruit tree owners with volunteers who harvest the fresh fruit and distribute it in the community. The goal of the program is to increase food security and lower food waste as well as enhance community connections.
Last year, over 2,000 pounds of fruit was harvested in Tsawwassen and Ladner in the month of August alone. Earthwise is hoping to harvest double that amount this year.
“The Shared Harvest program provides fresh foods to low-income families in Delta and we have the potential to expand this program so much more,” says program coordinator Corinne Côté. “We can have even more impact, we just need more volunteers to make it happen.”
New volunteers to the Shared Harvest program will be paired with experienced Earthwise volunteers.
Harvested fruit is split equally among the homeowner, those in-need in the community, Earthwise Society and the volunteers who harvest the produce.
Earthwise distributes the produce to those in-need through many local partner agencies, including the Boys & Girls Club, Canadian Mental Health, Fraser Health, the food bank, libraries, churches and more.
If you are interested in contributing a couple of hours of your time to become a Shared Harvest volunteer, email [email protected] or call 604-946-9828. If you have a fruit tree or a veggie patch in need of harvesting and would like to donate a portion of the harvest, register your yard at http://bit.ly/SharedHarvest.
Earthwise is also looking for more distribution points for fresh produce.
