In April, Plant for Hunger invited gardeners across America to plant a little extra for neighbors in need.
Now it is August, and those seeds and seedlings have become tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, beans, and more. In millions of gardens, the harvest is arriving faster than gardeners can eat, preserve, or share it.
That makes now (and through the end of your local harvest season) the time for Harvest for Hunger.
These photographs show what that can mean. One day’s harvest from my own garden filled a large table with fresh produce. I kept about 10 percent for myself and donated the remaining 90 percent to the women’s shelter in my town, the same shelter whose need helped inspire me to create AmpleHarvest.org 17 years ago.
That is how AmpleHarvest.org is meant to work. You do not need acres of produce, a food drive, or a truckload to make a difference. Keep what you will use. Donate the rest.
America’s 62 million home and community gardeners are estimated to grow more than 17 billion pounds of surplus harvests each year. Most of it exists in small amounts scattered across millions of backyards, community gardens and on tens of millions of fruit trees nationwide. Together, it represents an enormous, largely untapped supply of fresh food for neighbors facing hunger.
That abundance matters beyond the pantry shelf. People who rely on food pantries often have limited access to fresh produce, and better access supports better nutrition, which can help reduce the risk and cost of diet-related illness. Healthier people build stronger communities, a more productive workforce, and a more economically secure nation.
Harvest for Hunger also opens up charitable giving to millions of Americans who want to help but do not have money to spare. AmpleHarvest.org lets them reach into their backyard instead of their back pocket to help a neighbor in need.
Visit www.AmpleHarvest.org, enter your ZIP code, and find a nearby food pantry that welcomes fresh garden produce. Its listing tells you when and where to bring your donation.
With AmpleHarvest.org, there us no need for long-distance transportation or building complicated distribution systems. The gardener, the food, and the pantry already exist. AmpleHarvest.org provides the critical missing connection, at no cost to gardeners or pantries.
Even if you did not plant a hunger row in April, you can still take part today. If your garden is giving you more than you can use, your Harvest for Hunger is already waiting to happen.
Keep what you will use. Donate what you will not. The food is already growing. Let’s make sure it reaches someone who needs it.
