Bucket Build 2017

150 container gardens, built from scratch, companion-planted with either a tomato or pepper and herb transplant, tagged with a gardener support group outreach card…

20 Gleaning Project volunteers and 10 Master Gardeners having an awesome time together, accomplishing all that work in just 1 hour…

Every single bucket garden distributed to local families struggling with food insecurity over the next 2 days…   Bucket Build 2017 was a huge success.

Where can I buy fresh local berries?

Sometimes it’s hard to remember which fruits and veggies are in season, what farms grow them, where they sell them, when they’re open… eating seasonally and locally can be hard!

Well look no further.

The 2017-2018 LOCAL FOODS RESOURCE GUIDE is hot off the press!

Get your own FREE copy of this amazing guide at the Adams County Farm Fresh Market, at The Gleaning Project’s Gettysburg office (153 N. Stratton St), or online.

The Adams County Local Foods Resource Guide offers:
-Information on 60+ local businesses, including where they’re located, when they’re open and what they offer
-A county wide map of where local foods are sold
-A list of 7 local CSAs to join
-Information on local food pantries, soup kitchens, and food access initiatives
-A healthy restaurant dining guide
-Tips on eating healthy on a budget
…and more!

Eat more fruits and veggies. Eat locally. Thank a farmer.

An apple a day keeps hunger away in Adams County

Thank you to everyone who made our Fall Empty Bowls fundraiser a huge success!

To all of our apple treat bakers: Yellow Breeches Educational Center, Campus Kitchens, Work Ready, Dottie Cairns, Jen Cole, Janelle Wertzberger, Kara Boehne-Miele,  Suzanne Landis, and Lynn Garskof.

To all of our bowl donors: The Adams County Arts Council, Under the Horizon Pottery, Gettysburg Art and Art History Department and more…

To the Adams County Arts Council Winter Farmers Market.

To Mr. G’s for the delicious Ice Cream!

To our volunteers: Emily Hayes, Audrey Clabaugh, Shalee Clabaugh, Hannah Killer, Samantha Trueman, Shae Benski, Jen Cole, Ken Althoff, and Catherine Volk.

To everyone who attended the event, helping The Gleaning Project raise $1,020!

 

Get ready for our BIG spring Empty Bowls event!
Saturday April 22, 5-7pm at Gettysburg College’s Plank Gymnasium.

2016 – Looking Back

Happy new year.

And Happy Winter!

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday with those you love.  We’ve enjoyed our break too, and now, now, it’s time to get back to good work.

First up… What happened last year?   Oh.  You all were awesome!

Because of your fresh produce, time, material, and monetary donations to our community solution, together, we were able to accomplish so much food saving and sharing to those in our community who need it most.  In 2016…

We saved over 315,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables from South Central PA farms and orchards.

We delivered that fresh produce to over 26,000 local community members in need.

We worked together with 82 different community partner distribution locations and offered 7 free preservation classes to recipients of gleaned produce.

We… are the over 1,100 volunteers who donated 4,200 hours of precious time and the 122 farmers and gardeners generous and thoughtful enough to get in touch and support our community solution here in South Central PA.

So.  Awesome.

Many thanks.  More insights on wins and more-work-to-do’s from 2016 coming soon.  Much more good work to do in 2017.  We hope you’ll join in the fun and come along for the ride…

‘Tis the Season for Holiday Giving

Wondering how you can  support The Gleaning Project through the winter months? 

---

---

Here’s what one group of Adams County Gleaners is doing to help feed our community this holiday season:

Waste Not, Want Not:

“My best friend and I decided to spend our December ‘girlfriend day’ doing some sort of community outreach, and discovered that The Gleaning project was in need of people willing to open their kitchens and preserve pumpkins and apples for the winter months ahead.  Being that both of us come from families that are big on growing gardens and freezing or ‘putting up’ fruits and veggies for our yearly use, this was right up our alley!
I started thinking about how gleaning is so much a part of the mentality that my grandparents fully embraced.  See, I lost these two huge influences in my life this past year, and the holidays were really starting to make me miss them terribly.

 I started to view this opportunity to volunteer as a way to honor my grandparents:  ‘Waste not, want not’ they often said to me.

Apples, Cantaloupe, Cauliflower, Cucumbers, Fairytale eggplant, Green beans, Kale, Peppers, Strawberries, Swiss chard, Tomatoes, Watermelon, Zucchini…

What do all these items have in common?
They have all been gleaned this year by Halleigh Benner.

She and other volunteers make The Gleaning Project’s wheels turn.
Without them we would be nothing.

Halleigh first learned about gleaning from going to an “Empty Bowls” fund raiser at Gettysburg College. She works with other volunteers to collect leftover crops from farms and orchards that are not economical for farmers to pick. The Gleaning Project then donates the gleaned produce to folks throughout Adams and Franklin Counties who are unable to afford enough food to live a healthy active lifestyle.

Fitting gleaning into her schedule isn’t easy. She currently works 3 jobs (at Target, a restaurant, and the US Post Office). But, she says, “Gleaning is always the highlight of my week. I know I did something rewarding. I’m kind of sad it’s winter and there won’t be anymore gleans.”

Wondering what it’s like to be an in-field gleaning volunteer?
Learn a bit about Halleigh’s experience in her own words:

Oh wow. It’s the day before Thanksgiving.

How did that happen?  November’s over.  The holidays are here.  Wow.

We thank all of you, All of You! – who grow good food, who volunteer to help us glean excess food, who help those who have less enjoy more, and who follow along to share and spread our work building community solutions around hunger and nutrition in South Central PA.

There is so much. So much to say and to be thankful for. So much abundance. And opportunity. So many good people doing their best to make our community and world a better place.

There are also so. many. challenges. Lessons need learning. Problems need fixing. We have so much work to do…  This time of year, we’re thankful for all of that too. That’s how we get better. That’s why we’re here.

We hope you all enjoy this season’s end. Happy Thanksgiving! We’re looking forward to family, community, new friends, aka old strangers. And food! Glorious food.

Much appreciation.
All the very best.

The Glean Team

World Hunger Week 2016

World Hunger Week has come and gone, but the issues of food insecurity affect our community everyday.

This past week made us reflect on hunger on an international, national, and local scale. 

It reminded us that one out of every two children in Pennsylvania are eligible for food assistance.

It reminded us that one in five seniors can’t afford enough food to live a healthy, active, lifestyle.

It reminded us of how unjust our food system is, when soda and junk food is more accessible than fresh fruits and veggies. 

It reminded us of the effects that poor nutrition has on our physical and mental health.

It reminded us that every single one of us has the power to make a difference.

It inspires us to fight for change.

 

Missed out on some of our World Hunger Week events?
Scroll down to see what we’ve been up to.

How long will gleaning last?

Well, this 2016 season of gleaning… we hope will last ’til Thanksgiving.

The weather’s gonna decide for us though.

That wind knocking on my window right now has a mind of its own. There’s a hard frost headed our way this coming Wednesday.  And does anyone remember that time it snowed around Halloween a couple years back?

All to say, we get what we get.  We, you, The Gleaning Project, will make the most and best of whatever we’re presented with in these next, few, short weeks.

We’ll be pushing hard, trying to save as much good food for our neighbors in need, to reduce hunger and improve nutrition in South Central PA, while we still have the chance this 2016 season.

Lots of opportunities to help this week.
– Details about this week’s Adams County events here…
– Details about this week’s Franklin County events here…

And you can always
– find us on Facebook…
– and here on Instagram.

September’s going quick.

It’s here.  It’s gone.

Just like that.  That’s Fall.

Around here, we call it “the quickening.”  Time starts moving faster and so much faster this time of year.  Our 2016 glean season will be over Soon.  And we can’t stop that.