On Nov. 16 in Mountain View, Naomi Eisenberger, Founding Executive Director of the Good People Fund and grantee Craig Diserens, founder of CA-based Village Harvest, along with volunteers, harvested over 900 pounds of fruit for the local food agency.

Village Harvest began two years ago, and this backyard gleaning effort gathers thousands of pounds of fresh fruit and gets it into the hands of local hunger programs where people who might not have the means to purchase costly produce can enjoy the seasonal bounty.

Within a three-hour time span, about 15 volunteers, led by a volunteer coordinator, gathered at the local food agency and received instructions and maps to nearby homes where they were to pick crate after crate of persimmons.

With the agency’s van equipped with all of the tools needed to carry out the mission – ladders, telescoping pickers to reach the highest branches, crates, gloves, rakes and more – about three hours later the results, included 900 pounds of fresh persimmons and a corps of volunteers who had come together to benefit their community.

This year, Village Harvest received a grant of $5,000 from the Good People Fund.

Village Harvest ( www.villageharvest.org) uses volunteers to glean the abundance of produce (nearly 500,000 pounds last year alone) from private property and re-developed orchards and deliver it to local hunger programs.

What differentiates Village Harvest’s efforts is their belief that the volunteers’ actions actually strengthen the community around them.

Their grant of nearly $5,000 was allocated towards their Orchards Harvesting Program, organizing volunteers to pick historic or noncommercial orchards (some planted during the Gold Rush 150 years ago) and preserve and restore old orchards for future generations.

Pictured are Naomi Eisenberger, Craig Diserens and volunteers gleaning around Mountain View.

Volunteer opportunities and information can be found at www.villageharvest.org & www.goodpeoplefund.org

Founded in 2008, The Good People Fund, inspired by the concept of repairing the world, responds to significant problems such as poverty, disability, trauma and social isolation, primarily in the United States and Israel. We provide financial support and management guidance for small to medium grassroots efforts. Our grant recipients are leading their non-profits with annual budgets under $500,000 and no professional development staff but are driven and determined to make a difference in their communities. With its guiding philosophy that small actions can have huge impacts and its emphasis on the personal connection, the GPF has raised and granted more than $6 million dollars since its inception in 2008. Further information can be found at www.goodpeoplefund.org.

–Images and info courtesy of The Good People Fund.

Good People In Mountain View! Volunteers Harvest Produce For Food Bank _ Mountain View, CA Patch