My first official post as a Viewfinder! I’m sharing my photos from a gleaning program that I co-founded in San Luis Obispo, California. I was involved in the program for twelve years, becoming a paid manager for one year, and the rest as a volunteer on our steering committee and documenting the program over the years.

Our group encouraged local farmers and homeowners to donate excess produce and we partnered with and became adopted by our county food bank. 

A mentor told me to document from the very beginning. I’m so glad she did! I captured the first harvests, donations, our first volunteers. At one of our first neighborhood harvests, my husband and I knocked on the door of a home with a very full orange tree in the front yard. The homeowner answered, thrilled his oranges could be used. Walking by his house fifteen years later, I can still recall his enthusiasm.

Our steering committee of community members and food bank staff strategized about a collective vision for the program. We grew the program step by step, tree by tree. We created a website, started a Flickr account, Facebook page, Instagram and made sure to send photos from our harvests to our volunteers and farmers. We spent a lot of time networking with farmers, volunteers, homeowners.

In the first year, a generous offer came from a local family to harvest apples at their orchard. We had weekly harvests and gleaned thousands of pounds of apples!

We couldn’t capture them all.

Soon after, a large scale grower offered his fields as an opportunity for high school students to experience harvesting. He contacted another farming family- we continued to grow. We were grateful to the farmers who offered their crops and always respected their land.

I recall the details of many harvests-how it felt to be in the orchard on a warm summer day with bountiful peach trees.

During the years I was involved, food insecurity was often on my mind, a puzzle to be solved.

Volunteers and farmers love the program, it is truly meaningful work for all. Connecting with the community has always been my passion. It is one of my deepest joys that the program continues to thrive.

Never could I have imagined when we were picking those first few trees that over three million pounds of locally grown produce would have been harvested and donated to community people in need.

I remain in awe of our farmers and volunteers, grateful to the food bank staff, and honored to have documented this program over the years.

-carolyn