Backyard Gardeners Can Share Bounty with Home-Bound Seniors
Calling all home gardeners. Offer your excess produce to the non-profit Stamford-based Food Rescue US, who will donate it to home-bound seniors in town.
Beginning on June 7, residents can bring veggies and fruits from their garden to Shaggy Coos every Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. A Food Rescue US volunteer will pick-up the donated food and deliver it to the local food pantry at the Senior Center to be distributed to home-bound seniors in town.
Food Rescue US, whose mission is to reduce food waste and food insecurity in America, has paired up with Easton’s Energy & Environment Task Force to provide home-bound seniors with fresh locally grown produce.
“The donated fruits and vegetables will go to a population in town that can’t get to the farmers market to buy fresh produce,” said Diane Geisert, Food Rescue’s sustainability liaison.
Geisert encourages residents who have the space in their garden to think about planting an extra row of produce to donate to the program.
Alison Witherbee, the town’s municipal agent for the aging/social services director, said during the pandemic she noticed that seniors loved whenever the meals delivered to their home included fresh fruits and vegetables, staples not generally found in food pantries.
“We are excited to partner with Food Rescue to see how the program goes,” Witherbee said.
Founded in 2011, Food Rescue US uses a proprietary web-based app and volunteers to transfer excess fresh produce from grocers, restaurants, and other sources to social service agencies that feed people who are food insecure. It has provided more than 26 million meals and kept more than 35 million pounds of food from the waste stream, according to its website.
In the meantime, to learn more about the initiative contact Geisert at diane@foodrescue.us not Shaggy Coos.
