On my drive into work, I pass a food bank with a perpetual line down the block. These are people just like myself, just like my coworkers, and just like my friends- I am quickly reminded that regular access to healthy food isn’t a guarantee. In the immigrant I see my father, in the elderly I see my grandparents, and in the children I see the kids of friends. These are our neighbors. This is our community.
Josh Furman, City Fruit volunteer and member
I started my involvement with City Fruit because of my interest in food and gardening. I love food as much as the next person, and it’s sometimes easy to take for granted the abundance of food that many of us enjoy. Each morning, I am given a hard sense of reality, though. On my drive into work, I pass a food bank with a perpetual line down the block. These are people just like myself, just like my coworkers, and just like my friends- I am quickly reminded that regular access to healthy food isn’t a guarantee. In the immigrant I see my father, in the elderly I see my grandparents, and in the children I see the kids of friends. These are our neighbors. This is our community.
1 in 5 kids in our state live in a household that struggles to put food on the table, and 1 in 7 Washingtonians rely on SNAP (food stamps). We are the 23rd hungriest state in the nation, yet at the same time, thousands of pounds of usable fruit fall on our sidewalks and in our backyards. City Fruit helps solve that problem, and gets this excess produce into the hands of those who need it most.
When I harvest fruit, I am working side by side with amazing people. I have met dozens of neighbors in the blocks around where I live, and on my weekend walks I have a different sense of what community can mean. We are part of something together, and with City Fruit’s leadership we harvest pounds of fruit which then makes its way to food banks and meal programs in our neighborhood.
I stay connected to City Fruit because I care about community. By giving of my time and financially, I am supporting the Seattle I believe in, and I hope you’ll join me in supporting City Fruit. Donate today and be part of #GivingTuesday!