Kimball Leung (Portola Hills) carries zucchini and squash to the green bins
City kids learn to glean – Lake Forest kids pick 2500 lbs for food bank
*******
Written by Izzy Whiting
At the beginning of hot day in July, 40 children, ranging in ages from 2 to 12, braved the heat, dirt and weeds to participate in gleaning vegetables to help the Second Harvest Food Bank. The children and their parents were supporting a planned service activity for the children from the local congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Irvine Incredible Edible Park is planted, maintained and gleaned by approximately 6,000 volunteers, mostly kids, each year and provides approximately 500,000 lbs. of food or 2 million meals for families in need.
Primary children (Foothill Ranch & Portola Hills) standing in front of the Second Harvest truck with some of the bins of the bell peppers
The children arrived at the field in the morning on a day when the high was expected to reach 93º F. Sam Caruthers of Second Harvest Food Bank was directing the volunteers by showing the kids the correct size for the bell peppers, yellow squash and zucchini ready for picking. Mr. Caruthers was a great cheerleader and was consistently praising all children’s efforts large and small.
Sometimes weeds larger than the vegetable plants made finding ready vegetables difficult. Mr Caruthers admonished the children to pull as many as they could, joking that they couldn’t go home until everyone had pulled at least twenty. Kyle Myers said of the experience afterward, “It was easy. All you did was pick it, put it in the bucket, and carry it to the truck.” Although many children disliked the heat there was a smile on every face. Kimball Leung said, “It was good. I want to come back and pick watermelons.”
Kathy Tanner, the Mormon Primary president for the local congregation, explained that she had chosen gleaning activity over a pool party, “It gave the kids a chance to get their hands dirty, to make a difference and see that difference. They could see the truck and bins that they had filled with food and hear Mr. Caruthers tell them they had provided 10,000 meals. 10,000 people will be able to eat because of what we did.” The 2500 lbs of food collected will be distributed to families in need the following Saturday.
Dylan Gomez (Foothill Ranch), Ben Tanner (Portola Hills), and Larry Gomez Jr.
carry squash and zucchini to the green bins
Ashley Gomez (Foothill Ranch) and her sister Rachel Gomez show off their bell peppers while their mother Elizabeth Gomez reaches to pick another one. In the background Summer Savage (Portola Hills) shows off her bell pepper to Sean Gomez (Foothill Ranch) and Allyson Tanner (Portola Hills)
Izzy Whiting is a wife, mother of three and lives in Foothill Ranch
Picture Details by Izzy Whiting
Submitted By Karen Lake
