Harvesting Organizations Directory

There are an increasing number of like-minded groups which harvest or collect fruit or produce for charitable purposes.  The list below is incomplete but may help our web site visitors locate a group in their location, either to donate their extra fruit/produce or to volunteer.

Harvesting and related charitable organizations:  please Contact Us with your name, organization information, and contact information for consideration for this list, or to update/correct the posted information.

Please note that Village Harvest cannot assume any responsibility for the activities of the groups listed, or accuracy of information provided to us by others.  Groups listed may or may not be official 501(c)(3) charitable organizations.

Harvesting / Gleaning Programs Directory

California

  • Berkeley, CA: North Berkeley Harvest is an unofficial group of friends and volunteers who pick and share fruit with local food initiatives.  (510) 812-3369 or northberkeleyharvest@gmail.com
  • Fresno, CA: Fresno Plant A Row for the Hungry (PAR) coordinates Citrus Saturdays from January - March and is interested in developing year-round gleaning efforts.  (559)456-4151/mailbox#2.
  • Long Beach, CA: SoCal Harvest is a volunteer organization in Long Beach, established in January 2009, to allow home gardeners to share extra produce and fruit with needy local families.
  • Los Angeles, CA:  Food Forward is an all volunteer grassroots group who care about reconnecting to the food system and making change around urban hunger. Several times a month they convene at a private property and glean excess fruit for local food pantries.
  • Los Angeles / San Fernando Valley, CA:  Citrus Sunday is an annual community event - in 2009, on May 3 - with residents and community groups picking thousands of pounds of citrus from homes for distribution through Valley food banks.  Organized by Valley Interfaith Council (VIC) and LA Council Member Greig Smith.  For more information visit www.CD12.org or (818) 756-8501.
  • Orange County, CA: The Harvest Club is a volunteer group that helps people primarily in the Huntington Beach/Costa Mesa/Fountain Valley areas who have excess produce, then passes it on to local nonprofits.  Contact through the web site, theharvestclub@gmail.com, or (714) 847-8669 to volunteer or offer extra backyard fruit or vegetables.
  • Palo Alto, CA:  EcoMagic, coordinates volunteer harvesters in Palo Alto for EcoMagic.  The fruit they harvest is used to support their environmental education cooperative.  (650) 323-7333
  • Paso Robles, CA:  The Backyard Harvest of Paso Robles collects fresh fruit and vegetables for local food banks and meal programs.
  • Sacramento, CA:  Harvest Sacramento is a collaborative volunteer effort started in 2009 to harvest fruit and vegetables from backyards and small orchards and donate it to local food agencies. (530) 204-8082, harvestsacramento@gmail.com
  • Sacramento, CA:  Senior Gleaners, This volunteer run organization gleans from farmers, packing houses, regional supermarkets, and other suppliers to supplement the nutritional needs of the hungry in the Sacramento region.  (916) 925-3240.
  • San Diego, CA:  Senior Gleaners, are all volunteers of 55 years of age and over.  They volunteer their time and labor in gleaning surplus food from gardens, fields, groves and regional supermarkets to supplement the hungry and poor.  (619) 582-2299.
  • Greater San Francisco Bay Area: Village Harvest is an 8-year old nonprofit volunteer organization harvesting extra fruit from backyards and small orchards to provide food for the hungry, and providing education on fruit tree care, harvesting, and using fruit.  In 2009, 900 volunteers harvested 173,000 lbs.  Headquartered in San Jose but with volunteer teams serving communities in Santa Clara, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Alameda, Contra Costa, and Yolo Counties.  www.villageharvest.org , (888) FRUIT-411 (888-378-4841).
  • San Francisco, CA:  SF Glean is a new (2009) volunteer project to harvest fruit and nut trees and donate the harvest to various food programs in our San Francisco communities.
  • Santa Barbara, CA:  Backyard Bounty is a program of the Food Bank of Santa Barbara County, harvesting fruits and vegetables from private properties in the area and distributing to those in need. jroeh57004@aol.com, (805) 896 - 4724.

Oregon

  • Ashland, OR: Neighborhood Harvest is an organization dedicated to harvesting fruit and nuts that would otherwise go to waste from people's yards in and around Ashland.  (541) 488-8777, info@neighborhoodharvest.org
  • Corvalis, OR: Community Harvest unites neighbors with extra fruit and nuts to volunteer harvesters and neighbors in need. (541) 753-9211 or americorps@corvallisenvironmentalcenter.org
  • Portland, OR:  Birch Community Services provides encouragement and support through the provision of food and other necessities to needy families referred by current participants.  They have been gleaning around their community for over a decade.  (503) 251-5431
  • Portland, OR:  Portland Fruit Tree Project is a grass-roots non-profit organization that registers fruit and nut trees, brings people together to harvest and distribute thousands of pounds of fresh fruit each year, and teaches tree care and food preservation in hands-on workshops.
  • Salem, OR:  Neighborhood Harvest of Salem is an all-volunteer group dedicated to alleviating hunger and building sustainable communities by picking backyard fruit and sharing the bounty between food pantries and participating volunteers. For more information, visit the web site or contact lclark-burnell@salemharvest.org.

Other West

  • Maui, HI: Waste Not Want Not is an new (2009) group collecting unwanted fruit for distribution to those in need on Maui. james@waste-not-want-not.org or (808) 874-8038
  • Moscow and Lewiston, ID: The Backyard Harvest collects fresh fruit and vegetables for local food banks and meal programs. 
  • Seattle, WA: Community Harvest of Southwest Seattle (www.gleanit.org). Harvesting residential fruit trees for local food banks, and more.
  • Victoria BC, Canada:  The Fruit Tree Project, harvests small orchards and backyard trees for the hungry and to share amongst their volunteers.  (604)873-1191

East

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