Skookum Gleaners (formerly known as The Powell River Fruit Tree Project) is ramping up the planning cycle as the fruit is visibly forming on the trees. Who knows whether 2011 will be a stellar fruit year (like two years ago) or a not-so-good fruit year (like last year)? We can’t wait to find out! Seriously. We cannot wait.
The Gleaners Team meets at 9:30 AM on the second and fourth Monday of every month upstairs at Quality Foods (in The Step Above coffee shop) for our planning sessions that this year will include:
- more promotion, and for a longer period;
- more door-to-door flyer drop-offs at homes with fruit trees;
- more outreach to community groups;
- more feedback and coordination of pickers & picks;
- more follow-up on picks (how they went, where the food went and how much, the variety and the quality of fruit picked and donated, the state of the trees, etc.);
- more education about picking, preparing, and preserving fruit — we hope to get lots more mileage out of our cider press this year!;
- more fundraising activities, including a new Skookum 2012 local growing calendar out in early August!; and
- A Fall Fair fruit-themed festival!
All this in an effort to increase the number and quality of picks, resulting in:
- more food picked & preserved for the community;
- more donated fruit for people (not bears) in need;
- better disposal of spoiledwindfall fruit for farmers to feed pigs, use as compost, etc.;
- a healthier treehuman population.
But we need your help to make this all happen. Skookum Gleaners is a project of the non-profit Skookum Food Provisioners’ Cooperative, and is run by volunteers. The picked fruit is divided equally between the volunteer picker, the tree owner (if they want any fruit) and charity.
Yes, it’s a great idea and it really deserves widespread community support. The Gleaners Team needs people with all sorts of talents, experience and some time to devote to the project, as well as any money you can donate to make this year’s project the best ever.
Interested? Contact us at gleaners@skookumfood.ca.
You may donate via PayPal or Credit Card by clicking here, and noting “Gleaners” in the Purpose box or you may drop off a cheque for Skookum Food Provisioners’ Cooperative (or ‘SFPC’), noting your Gleaners contribution in the memo field, to Kingfisher Used Books (4486 Marine Ave., Powell River, BC, V8A 2K2 CANADA) in care of SFPC.