April 2013
COMMUNITY REPORT Connecting farmers, truckers, volunteers & food banks for hunger relief
MISSION • Feed the hungry with surplus nutritious food • Access and improve food distribution and transportation systems • Develop and share innovative hunger relief solutions • Engage Rotarians in hunger relief
2012 HIGHLIGHTS • RFH celebrates 30 years in operation • 3,000 plus volunteers clocked over 10,000 hours harvesting produce with farmers • Culls for Community program diverted more than 75,000 lbs. of produce from landfills and into food banks • 11 Harvest Against Hunger AmeriCorps VISTA collected greater than 825,000 lbs. of food from 392 growers
Fellow Collaborators for Change
Rotary First Harvest is 30 years old. During that time we have supplied on average almost 1,000,000 servings per month to Washington’s hungry. All of the food we supply is from the farm: fresh fruit and vegetables. We are efficient. For every dollar contributed, we deliver approximately 35 pounds of produce. RFH applies the principles of Rotary for hunger relief. Our work is to connect farmers, truckers, volunteers and food banks for hunger relief. That work comes in the form of several unique and innovative approaches, from our core work of providing full-sized truckloads of produce like apples, potatoes, onions and other produce items to our Harvest Against Hunger that connects growers directly with programs serving the hungry in their community. The Rotary First Harvest Board is composed of 12 Rotarians from 10 clubs ranging from Enumclaw to Lynnwood. We have an exceptionally talented and committed staff: David Bobanick (Executive Director), Katy Boehm, Benjamin Rasmus, Lori Church and Karen Ullmann. Please consider joining us as a volunteer at one of our twice-monthly work parties at the warehouse locations of our partners Northwest Harvest and Food Lifeline and by making a donation as a financial contributor. I think you’ll be glad you did.
David Schooler Board President
Core Work: Large Scale Donations of Produce So far this year, Rotary First Harvest has secured donations more than 7 million pounds of healthy fruits and vegetables. Farmers, packagers and others donated peas, pears, apples, potatoes, onions, carrots and other produce items to initiate the process. RFH then secured trucking for these donations for drop off at our partners’ warehouse. From there, the produce was divided up by teams of volunteers and delivered to food banks serving communities around the state. Many of these hunger-relief agencies would not have produce to offer their clients without Rotary First Harvest.
Engaging Volunteers Volunteers from a variety of ages, races, genders, and geographic locations volunteered their time and talents with Rotary First Harvest. More than 3,000 volunteers came out to harvest a variety of fruit and vegetable from kohlrabi to kale, pears to peas in fields and orchards across the state for a total of over 10,000 service hours. Hundreds more volunteers donned hair nets and gloves to spend a combined 4,500 hours packing RFH-secured fruit and vegetables at the Northwest Harvest and Food Lifeline warehouses.
Program Successes
Culls for Community Through our core work and our Harvest Against Hunger program, RFH effectively develops many innovative pilot-program models. This year, Stemilt Growers donated apple bins that were incorporated into a new pilot model in the Yakima Valley called “Culls for Community.” A driver from Northwest Harvest Yakima returned to the farms on a regular schedule to pick up the bins filled with culls—edible produce with cosmetic damage that cannot be sold—for distribution at food banks throughout the Yakima Valley. More than 75,000 pounds of nutritious produce were diverted from landfills and distributed to food bank clients through this program. RFH intends to expand this pilot project to other HAH site locations during the 2013 harvest season.
Bike Against Hunger
Reaching New Heights: Harvest Against Hunger 11 Harvest Against Hunger AmeriCorps*VISTA were stationed at partner host sites around the state last year, all charged with getting more produce into the food banks. The Harvest VISTA worked for a full year connecting with local growers and volunteers to secure mid to small scale donations of surplus produce. The Summer VISTA Associates worked on planting, tending and harvesting gardens to benefit food banks. All totalled, the Harvest VISTA collected more than 825,000 pounds of produce to fight hunger, engaged more than 4,200 new volunteers and created new relationships with 392 growers!
Summer VISTA Associates This year HAH added 11 Sumer VISTA Associates to the Harvest Against Hunger project. SVAs were placed at a sponsored hunger relief agency for ten weeks, from mid-June to late August, to start or support existing food bank, community or school garden projects. These projects strengthened connections with schools, used educational curriculum to educate students about gardens and supplemented food banks’ availability of produce by growing garden vegetables. Additionally, RFH secured partnerships with corporate sponsors for in-kind donations of materials to build raise-bed gardens and other necessary items like soil and seeds to support gardens.
When the time came for Harvest Against Hunger Program Director Benjamin Rasmus to visit all of the HAH host sites around the state, he didn’t just jump in his car and go. Instead, he tuned up his bike, started a blog, and contacted the media. Then he biked to eight host sites, raising funds for HAH and gleaning fresh produce as he went. His ride took him from Seattle to Eastern Washington to NW Washington, a total trip of 900 miles. Thanks in part to a match from a generous sponsor, Benjamin’s efforts earned him not only media coverage around the state, but $2,000 to get more produce to the hungry in Washington as well.
RFH is able to do the work we do with the support of so many individuals, businesses and foundations. Below are our foundations, Rotary clubs and Harvest Partner contributors for 2012. Look for a list of individual donors in our next report. Rotary Club Financial Supporters: As a program of Rotary District 5030, RFH relies on support from local Rotary clubs to continue the work we do. The following clubs have granted RFH funds, purchased speaker cards or both. Alderwood Terrace Auburn Ballard Bellevue Bellevue Breakfast Burien/White Center Edmonds Daybreakers Emerald City Enumclaw Federal Way Issaquah Kent Sunrise Kirkland Lake Forest Park Lake Union
Lynnwood Magnolia Maple Valley Mercer Island Redmond Renton Seattle #4 Seattle Northeast Seattle Metropolitan Shoreline Breakfast Southcenter University District University Sunrise Woodinville
Harvest Partners: These fine folks generously make a monthly commitment to contribute to RFH’s effort to feed hungry people. Alice Cunningham Allan Boyce Allister Capperauld Anita L. Boser Art Haines Brian Ailinger Daniel Lyons David Clees Deborah Seaman Della M. Crossley Dick’s Drive-Ins, Ltd. Eric Black Garrett Haynes Howard Johnson James Woodcock Jeffrey Brennan
Josh Gerstman Julie & Gordon Hungar Laura Curnan Lynell Smith Mark H. Bingham Mary Dowling Mary Patricia Curran Michael Anderson Paul Mar Phillip H. Ginsberg Robert Collard Shannon Woodman Habel Susan Lindblom William G. Marcum William J. Stoeck
Board of Directors David Schooler, Pres. Tom Smith, Pres. Elect Marite Butners, Treas. George Frasier, Sec. Howard Johnson Deborah Seaman
Rotary First Harvest
John Matthews Kenneth Peirce Nancy Dalton Neale Weaver Larry Jackson Lisa Mayfield
PO Box 94117
Foundations: Foundations provide key support for our ongoing operations and new program development.
Aven Foundation Paul G. Allen Family Fnd Bank of America Foundation Community Fnd N. Central WA Cooper Levy Trust Costco Elizabeth B. Kelly Foundation Fuchs Foundation
Greater Tacoma Foundation Loomis Foundation Norcliffe Foundation Opus Foundation Providence Foundation Puget Sound Energy Fnd Shemanski Foundation
Hillis Awards Winners: Named for RFH Founder and University Club Rotarian Norm Hillis, this award is given to those who donated $1,000 or more in 2012. Ann & John Liberato Basant & Sheila Singh Betty Woods Donald Lockwood Frank Young Harold & Mary Fran Hill
Jim & Nancy Crim John & Mary Ellen Mathews Kirk Greene Linda & Marvin Senff Marite Butners Tom Eckhart
Cabernet Classic Sponsors: The Cabernet Classic was RFH’s gala event in 2012. Look for information coming soon about our newest events, the RFH Harvest Hoe Down on October 17, 2013 and a wine tasting event on February 17, 2014. Heritage Bank Howard A. Johnson Maverick Label Pacific Continental Bank Simpson Lumber
Sterling Realty Tom Smith Law Office Umpqua Bank Windermere group
RFH will continue to develop programs to provide additional high-quality fruits and vegetables to those in need, and look forward to your continued participation and support. To learn more about RFH, or to join in this effort, please visit www.firstharvest.org.
Seattle, WA 98124
(206) 236-0408
2012 Donors & Supporters
SPECIAL THANKS: