First ever Gleaning Project fundraiser this Saturday

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - For years we’ve followed Pamela Zamora as she and her volunteers pick fruit from trees during the fall season.

“We want (to) take that shame of waste out of their trash can and get it to people who need fresh fruit in town,” Zamora has said more times than not.

The trees are located in local backyards and orchards where the owners cannot physically do the chore themselves.

In 2020 the group picked 14,000 pounds of fruit for local charities. This year she says they are on course to beat the record.

“This year because of the volume of requests this is double our biggest year in the past,” says Zamora. “This year we are tasked to do 20,000.”

The fruit can end up in places like the Community Health Alliance where clients received the fruit in weekly food baskets. Those clients often comment on how much better the fresh fruit tastes than canned.

The volunteers start their work in summer when stone fruit ripens and work all the way to late fall when apples are at their best.

It’s been this way for 15 years, and now the Gleaning Project is ready to make the next step.

“My pickers are very generous with their time and talent” says Zamora. “I think that is all they should be asked to do.”

Zamora says that means she needs more eight-and nine-foot aluminum ladders. She needs more extension pole pickers, and she wants to pay for a tank of gas to get to and from their picking job.

All of which requires more funding. She takes us through an orchard and identifies the different apples, as well as the pears and nectarines. It is these same fruits which will be paired with cheese, meats, and breads for what she hopes to be an annual fundraiser for the Gleaning Project.

She shows us silent auction items she’s been collecting for weeks--now in the back of her car ready for display at the fundraiser.

This event is important, she says, for her invaluable volunteers.

“By donating their time and talent I don’t want them to be getting behind financially. That’s not fair,” she says.

The event takes place this Saturday, September 30 from 5:00 to 8:00 in the evening at a beautiful home on Rhodes Road in south Reno. Space is limited. And participants will need a ticket to get on to the property.

For more information: https://renogleaningproject.org/upcoming-events

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