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Gail Savina, Change Agent.
Photo by Andrea Lee |
When it finally comes around, summer in Seattle brings an explosion of ripening fruit. For participants of the Community
Fruit Tree Harvest Program, this means sunny afternoons
picking apples, pears, grapes, and plums and delivering them to shelters. In 2006, the group picked 3,000 pounds of fruit and in 2007, with a grant from the Department of Neighborhoods,
they delivered a whopping 11,000 pounds.
The program is part of Lettuce Link, which is run by Solid Ground. Seattle residents can register their trees at any time; when their fruit is ripe, coordinator Gail Savina organizes volunteers into groups that find ladders and transportation and then pick and deliver the fruit. Volunteers often meet for the first time under the limbs of a tree.
Gail, who calls this her “dream job,” believes better access to organic food is vital. And fresh, local fruit is in high demand at the area’s low-income housing programs. Savina remembers bringing boxes of plums to a women’s shelter, where, she says, the women were so excited “they just surrounded me.”
If you’re interested in volunteering with the Community Fruit Tree Harvest Program, call (206) 694-6761. To register your fruit tree, call (206) 633-0224. |
