Volunteer with the Gleaning Project!
Do you like local healthy produce? Volunteering with the Gleaning Project is a fantastic way to build community, stop food waste, learn some new skills, share the wonders of healthy produce with your neighbors.
Volunteer Harvester
Volunteer Harvesters are the backbone of the Gleaning Project. Our harvesters glean from farms and fruit trees from June to October. Harvest opportunities are usually between 2-4 hours and involve picking food, learning appropriate harvest techniques, and hanging outside with some awesome people. As a volunteer harvester, you can register for gleans as the come up, there is no weekly requirement. However, we will have weekly opportunities for both fruit gleans and farm gleans throughout the summer. Check out our Upcoming Harvests page to see what is available!
Farm Gleans - Farm Gleans are a great way to visit a local farm, connect with a farmer, and experience the idyllic landscape of rural Pierce County. Harvesting is family friendly - bringing your kids to a local farm is an awesome way to connect them to there food source and show them how food gets to there plate! Volunteers get to take home at least 1 serving of the gleaned produce home!
Fruit Gleans - Fruit gleans are an awesome way to meet your neighbors and experience the urban orchard of Greater Tacoma. Most of the fruit is donated to food banks and feed sites across pierce county, the rest is divided between the volunteers!
Neighborhood Harvest Leader
Neighborhood Harvest Leaders are the point person leading volunteers on urban fruit harvests and organizing logistics like food bank drop off and record keeping. Coordinators ideally commit to the entire harvest season (July-mid October) and to leading a weekly harvest on a consistent day. They receive training in the beginning of the season and are offered a small stipend and mileage reimbursement for their commitment. Harvesting equipment and a vehicle (if needed) is provided to all coordinators. This is the perfect opportunity for folks who want to be harvesting regularly and who want to make more of a commitment to the program. For more information and a full position description email chrism@piercecountycd.org or call (253) 244-2177.
Neighborhood Fruit Scout
Neighborhood Fruit Scouts are volunteers who commit to registering new fruit trees for gleaning and checking on registered fruit trees to make sure they are healthy and ripe for picking! This is a great independent volunteer opportunity. Whether you like to walk, bike, or have a car to get around, fruit scouts are an important part to making sure that healthy fruit gets harvested. Fruit Scouts ideally commit to the entire season (July-mid October) and to visiting trees on a consistent day to report and assess tree health. Scouts are a bridge to homeowners providing information on gleaning and pest management resources. Fruit Scouts receive training in the beginning of the season and are offered also a small stipend and mileage reimbursement. For more information and a full position description email chrism@piercecd.org or call (253) 244-2177.