Dear City Fruit member and supporter,
First, thank you for allowing me to serve you and this organization. As a volunteer, donor, tree owner or steward, orchard advocate, and more – your voice and support in our organization is what makes City Fruit special and helps us serve the dual role of reducing food waste and sharing the abundance of fruit with area food banks and meal programs. Our 2020 harvest season has already begun, and I’m excited to be a part of my first harvest as trees we netted this past spring are now producing apples and more. I come to City Fruit with a long record of environmental stewardship and community advocacy, and I look forward to working with you in leading our organization in ways that respect your contributions and keep you engaged in our activities.
At this particular time, when a pandemic has left much of the country confused and uncertain about the future, your continued support could not be more important.
For more than 12 years, City Fruit has worked with private tree owners and public orchards throughout Seattle to harvest and glean fruit that has then been provided at little or no cost to local communities. We have celebrated the beauty of living in the Emerald City by showcasing how much fruit is grown and how this growth can meet some of the food needs of our community.
Our work wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of local tree owners and the loving, year-round care of our local public orchards.
Like the fruit trees that make our work possible, City Fruit needs the love and continued nurture of our community supporters and volunteers to produce our best work. This fall, our annual Celebrates fundraiser, a critical component of our efforts to make City Fruit sustainable, will move online in accordance with COVID health and safety precautions, and many of our volunteer harvest events have been postponed because of the moratorium on large groups. We are reimagining both of these with an eye towards social distancing, and will keep you informed of how these new events will look.
We hope you recognize that this is a difficult time for all of us and amidst this, I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas on any of these developments. Rest assured, City Fruit is committed to harvesting as much fruit as possible to continue donating to local food banks experiencing unprecedented demand.
To do this, though, we will need your support more than ever.
I hope you are excited to renew your commitment to City Fruit – by filling a U-Pick Harvest Box from your own fruit tree, by buying a ticket to our Celebrates fundraiser, by visiting our Fruit for All Pop-ups, or by donating to our organization so that we can ensure the resources we need for a good harvest. I am excited to join you as part of this organization and to growing together!
In solidarity,
Annie Nguyen
City Fruit Executive Director
Scaling Mailbox Peak, June 2020, and ready to go further with City Fruit.
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A message from the Board
Greetings City Fruit Community,
The City Fruit Board of Directors is proud to announce and welcome Annie Nguyen as City Fruit’s new Executive Director!
Annie brings with her years of service in management level positions within the non-profit space with extensive development and programming experience. Her interest in our cause is truly palpable and we are thrilled by her ideas and motivation to help guide the next stage of City Fruit’s growth. The Board of Directors and staff are pleased to have Annie join the City Fruit team and lead the organization in its goal to connect the community to our mission. We believe that her experience and passion will help develop stronger engagement, stewardship and support of our vast urban orchard and the work City Fruit does to protect and harvest its bounty.
City Fruit Board of Directors