Activities and Opinions

Today we joined several other gleaners from the Society of St. Andrew and picked grapefruit, tangerines and oranges at a private residence in Fruit Cove. Fruit was provided to Food Not Bombs and other agencies in NE Florida.

PUSH members again participated in a special "gleaning" project. Thanks to the Society of St. Andrew, we picked up 18 cases of fresh broccoli in Jacksonville which were distributed to Food Not Bombs, The Emergency Services Homeless Coalition's Transitional Housing, St. Francis House, and some hungry people in the area.

PUSH members joined Sandi Newman from the Society of St. Andrew and about a half dozen other volunteers to glean white grapefruit at a private residence in Ortega Forrest. Some 14 crates were gleaned, leaving another crate on the lower hanging branches for the homeowner. In St. Augustine, grapefruit were provided to Food Not Bombs and the Emergency Services Homeless Coalition's Transitional Housing program.

Today PUSH members joined Sandi, Northeast Florida coordinator for the Society of St. Andrew, her sister, Jennifer, and Tyler, a college student here with his family for the holidays. We picked grapefruit from a private home in Ponte Vedre Beach. When we arrived, a neighbor provided Tyler with tangerines and grapefruit, already picked, from his trees. About 3 crates of citrus were provided to Food Not Bombs.

P.U.S.H. and St. Augustine Food Not Bombs members traveled to Advent Luthern Church in Orange Park. Thrivent Financial for Lutherns and the Society of St. Andrew had a special "gleaning" project. An 18-wheeler full of yellow and green squash arrived from south Georgia. Thrivent Financial provided hundreds of volunteers and a forklift to unload the bins of squash and bag them. They also arranged for the truck. We delivered about 1800 pounds of squash to Food Not Bombs, some local charities and, ironically, organizations in Palatka and Pierson that feed hungry farm workers.