5 minute read
Harvesting Hope
Hand-Picked Hope
Story by Rachel Trigueiro | Photos by Lifestyle Staff
What began as a class project evolved into a nonprofit fairytale called Harvesting Hope.
Tulare Mission Oak High School teacher Michaelpaul Mendoza founded Cultural History, an ethnic studies course focusing on stories rarely told throughout history. Students learn about struggle, injustice, and equity, and brainstorm a group project to make a difference in their school or community. In its year of inception, 2013, students kept coming back to one theme: food drives. With the help of their teacher, the class found an organization that picked fruit from trees in the backyards of homes in Tulare County. This organization was in its final year, nearing its end, when students jumped in, helping pick fruit from residents’ homes and donating to food banks. “Every time we picked an orange, it was directly helping feed somebody. And that was real for students, it was something we could actually touch,” Michaelpaul recalls. Before long, the organization was restored with the exuberance of youth and the hope of making a difference.
As time went on, word got out about the student-led movement and local growers began donating fruit and vegetables from their fields. Students requested to invite the entire school for the first five-acre field harvest. With 80 kids loaded on the bus to a local ranch, students harvested 3,000 pounds of tangerines in two hours. Joy spread like wildfire. The local grower and farmer was so moved by the students’ enthusiasm and willingness to put in hard work with their own hands, he offered them the opportunity to come back the following Saturday. “From then on, it took off and turned into something we never thought possible,” Michaelpaul says. “By the end of the first year, ranchers with larger properties were coming in, and the students had picked nearly 20,000 pounds of produce.”
Michaelpaul Mendoza, Founder of Harvesting Hope
Kids started joining the class just to be part of the Harvesting Hope project. In its second year, newly enrolled students decided not only to maintain the current class project, but to expand it and invite other schools to participate. With all Tulare high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools invited, 500 students joined the initial second-year harvest, loading an entire semi-truck four bins high with a total of 24 bins of sweet corn—a phenomenal feat, Michaelpaul says.
As momentum grew, Michaelpaul approached United Way. They made Harvesting Hope’s explosive growth possible through offering liability insurance and hosting a website with volunteer forms. Additionally, United Way also makes donating to Harvesting Hope simple through their website.
Fast-forward to today: Harvesting Hope (aptly named by students), spread throughout the entire county. “This class project turned into a county-wide student movement to fight hunger,” Michaelpaul says. No longer is it just students involved; parents and adults from the community have joined and are welcomed. The movement has also grown with the addition of two more coordinators: Leonard Houser, a chemistry teacher from Tulare Western High School and James Williams, a financial advisor from Exeter. On any particular Saturday, volunteers show up, give their time, and handpick nearly 4,000 pounds of (mostly citrus) fruit that is directly donated to local food banks. Students from all over Tulare County have picked upwards of 400,000 pounds since its first year in 2013.
With the abundance of food grown in Tulare County, much of it is shipped overseas. Unfortunately, approximately 25% of people in Tulare County live under the poverty level with food insecurity. In Harvesting Hope’s early years, a student survey showed 14% of kids from Mission Oak have gone to bed hungry. This statistic inspires students to keep going out each Saturday.
Harvesting takes place every Saturday during citrus season. To come out and dedicate a Saturday morning to help feed other people takes a special student. Michaelpaul recalls picking fruit one Saturday when he noticed a student crying. As he approached her, she said, “I’m okay, I’m happy. It’s just that these students are picking the fruit for people and my family goes to the food bank and gets this fruit.”
Michaelpaul Mendoza
Harvesting Hope’s impact is felt not only by the families receiving the food, but also those picking it. “I’ve seen Harvesting Hope as an opportunity to help educate the heart, not just the mind,” Michaelpaul says. “Helping students learn something outside the classroom that they’d never learn inside is the value of giving back and making a difference in the community.”
Harvesting Hope welcomes all who’d like to join them during citrus season on Saturdays from 10am-12pm. Volunteering information is announced through social pages, with a text number for more information. Follow Harvesting Hope Tulare County on Facebook and Instagram for up-to-date harvest details.
