Community Partner Spotlight
When we talk about distributing gleaned produce, we often rattle off a long and impressive list – senior centers, women’s shelters, food pantries, WIC programs, health programs, after school or backpack programs, soup kitchens, housing facilities, and more.
A summertime community partner box.
Many of our community partners recognize the importance of offering fresh fruit and vegetables to their clients to improve health outcomes. However, one barrier that organizations face all across the country is infrastructure, or cold storage to keep fresh produce. We are fortunate enough to be able to store produce in our walk-in cooler and deliver boxes of fresh produce to community partners twice a week.
We are so grateful to our community partners for the role they play in helping us reach over 17,000 community members each year in Adams County. Many of them are also non-profits with staff who work tirelessly to support their clients.
Here at The Gleaning Project, we recognize that food insecurity often goes hand in hand with larger systemic issues like poverty, which cannot be fixed in a vacuum. Partnering with healthcare providers, housing authorities, women’s shelters, food pantries that provide emergency services, and so many other organizations enables us to play a small role in supporting individuals and families who find themselves unable to access enough food to live a healthy, active, lifestyle.
Please take a moment to learn more about a few of our community partners and consider donating or supporting them through volunteering. A full list of our community partners can be found here.
Gettysburg Soup Kitchen
The Gettysburg Soup kitchen aims to provide consistently nourishing meals, at no cost, to the hungry in our community. Check out their wish list or email contactgcsk@gmail.com to volunteer to serve a meal.
“This time of the year our shelves are usually bare because people are busy with their lives. Things pick up when Thanksgiving is around the corner.”
SCCAP Food Pantry in Gettysburg
SCCAP Food Pantries
SCCAP pantries serve about 120 families a day, and in August 2018, SCCAP served 2,000 families in Adams County. Receiving only $5.76 per family per month and very little money for administrative costs, the pantries work hard to spend their money on items that families will actually use and enjoy. They rely on donations and volunteers to do the rest.
Did you know that only 4% of Adams County residents eat the daily recommended amount of fruits and veggies? And that 70% of our community members are overweight or obese?
One way SCCAP’s health and nutrition programs (WIC, Food Pantry, and The Gleaning Project) work together to promote healthy eating is through Everybody Eats: SCCAP’s Community Kitchen Club. We encourage you to join this open Facebook group and share your favorite recipes!
Keystone Farmworker Health
Keystone Health is a full-service, family-centered, primary care facility providing quality, affordable, accessible health care. They are one of the only providers of health care to migrant and seasonal farmworkers in Pennsylvania. Each week we are able to distribute a box of produce to families attending the health clinic.
Ruth’s Harvest
This backpack program provides free food every Friday to over 200 students at Gettysburg Area Elementary and Middle schools. These children are eligible for free or reduced lunch, and have limited access to food at home over the weekends. With the support of community donations, bread from Bakewell Farm, and apples from The Gleaning Project, Ruth’s Harvest helps bridge the gap from Friday to Monday making sure growing children have healthy weekend snacks. You can check out their list of most needed food items here, or volunteer to stuff backpacks by calling Cindy at (717) 359-4931.
Photo courtesy of ACOFA.
Adams County Senior Centers (Littlestown, East Berlin, Gettysburg, York Springs, Fairfield, and Upper Adams)
Adams County Office for Aging provides assistance to and advocacy for people age 60 and above within Adams County, PA. Their mission is to assist people in maintaining independence and dignity within their own homes and communities. They have a number of different exciting volunteering opportunities including meal delivery and serving, providing Medicare counseling, and more. Learn more here.