By james art RENO, Nev. (KOLO) – Luma Dent employees are volunteering their time to harvest apples from this south Reno home.
They work with the Reno Gleaning Project, which for 15 years has partnered with local groups to harvest fruit and then take that fruit to charities to feed those in our community who may not have access to fresh fruit.
Jacob Johnson and his UNR Habitat for Humanity group did just that just a few weeks ago.
“I think there’s a difference between people and homegrown fruit,” Johnson says. “You know a lot of people don’t have access to these kinds of products. So, I think just by taking that first step to give them access to home grown fruit and food, people are hungry.
“I would one thousand percent do it again, everyone involved had a great time…Pamela was great,” said Jayden Carizzo, another UNR Habitat for Humanity member. “We help homeowners and those in our community.”
In an interesting twist, the fruit collected by UNR Habitat for Humanity came here to pack supplies.
This is the campus food bank where both students and faculty can get free food, no questions asked. The donation of fresh, local apples was something the food bank, which has seen more than 12,000 visits, doesn’t get often.
“Fruit is one of those versatile items that is sure to be accepted,” says Ryan Siad, assistant director of packages. “Fruits are always in demand because some people may be vegan or Hindu Muslim. Fruit, everyone eats fruit.
The donation is typical of what the Gleaning Project does during the fall months.
Gleaning founder Pamela Zamora says when you think about it, the students who use the food bank on campus are really no different than most local residents on a very limited income.
“So fresh fruit is something they can’t afford to buy,” Zamora says. “They can’t afford anything that’s going to rot. So these kids live off Top Ramen. They eat canned food. a lot of mac and cheese and they don’t get a lot of fresh produce.
This season, Zamora hopes to collect 10,000 pounds of fruit for 40 local organizations.
Back at the Luma Dent event, the group picked more than 300 pounds of fruit in about an hour. Everyone felt a sense of accomplishment and couldn’t believe how quickly time had flown by.
The haul of freshly picked apples will go to Pack Provisions, where Syad says the fruit will be gone in less than a week.
Zamora says that even with the limited harvest this year, there are still some openings for those locals who have fruit to donate but can’t pick it themselves.
For more information visit: https://renogleaningproject.org/
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