Sometimes as we work behind the scenes, coordinating all the logistics to make a glean a success, it is easy to get bogged down in the details — securing a truck, choosing a day and time that works with everyone’s schedules, getting the right equipment, bins, crates, harvest bags, pole pickers, ladders or clippers. But all that work pays off when people show up and offer their time to volunteer with us.
Over the past few years since GleanSLO began and has grown, volunteers are now getting to know each other as many have been on numerous gleans, helping out in an orchard, collecting extra produce at the farmers’ markets, or working at some of our events. At many harvests we have people who’ve never gleaned before alongside the experienced pro and weekly gleaners. We love this as it’s easy just to show up and someone will teach you what to do! This morning was our first blueberry glean and we learned from the farmers how best to pick. One of our gleaners picked blueberries each summer for many years and when looking at her bounty, there was not a leaf or a stem in her bucket!
One of the most rewarding aspects for me as a coordinator of this program is when I go over the photos to share on Facebook, post here on the blog, send out as a thank you, and I see the smiles that we’ve captured from that day’s experience. We are helping build and form community, which is what we always dreamed would happen when a small group of us gathered together in 2010, sharing lunches, brainstorming and visioning what this gleaning operation might become.
Here we are, over 230,000 pounds later, from that original 100 pounds when we started, and this is much of what we hoped for, and more. There are so many people to thank, so many who have contributed hours and hours for this purpose and for this vision. We’d like to make sure through our interview series that we continue to highlight some of these individuals and make sure we publicly thank them.
-Carolyn Eicher, GleanSLO Program Manager
