Pick fruit to help feed the hungry

If you’ve ever walked down a street strewn with fallen fruit and thought “Too bad that food went to waste,” this may be the volunteer opportunity for you.

Solid Ground’s Lettuce Link program is looking for help with its Community Fruit Tree Harvest, which delivers apples, plums and pears picked from Seattle fruit trees to food banks and meals programs. Last year, volunteers harvested more than 19,600 pounds of fruit.

There are four volunteer orientations coming up. In Wallingford, it will be Wednesday, July 28, 6:30pm – 7:30pm, Solid Ground (1501 N. 45th St.).

Other orientations are:
Tuesday, July 27, 6:30pm – 7:30pm, Ballard Library (5614 22nd Ave NW)
Thursday, July 29, 6:30pm – 7:30pm, Northeast Library (6801 35th Ave NE)
Monday, August 2, 6:30pm – 7:30pm, Douglass-Truth Library (2300 E Yesler Way)

Here’s what you’d do as a Community Fruit Tree Harvest volunteer:

• “Scout” trees in your neighborhood to see if they are ripe before sending volunteers to harvest.
• Harvest at scheduled work parties.
• Be “on call” to harvest fruit in your neighborhood. (An email will go out to the volunteers in a particular neighborhood when a tree there is ripe. Available volunteers will make arrangements for picking.)
• Provide garage storage for ladders, picking buckets and/or harvested fruit.
• Deliver harvested fruit to food banks and meals programs.

If you’re unable to attend an orientation, we’d still love to have your help! Contact Sadie at fruitharvest@solid-ground.org or 206.694.6751.

If you have fruit to donate, please contact Seattle Tilth’s Garden Hotline at 206.633.0224 or help@gardenhotline.org.