What comes to mind when you think of Fall? Maybe you instantly think of things like colorful leaves, hayrides, corn mazes, and pumpkin & apple picking. To Stacey Louderback of Wayne Moving & Storage, Fall means it's time to glean!
If you haven't heard of gleaning before, it's exactly what it sounds like: green cleaning. The USDA explains gleaning as "simply the act of collecting excess fresh foods from farms, gardens, farmers markets, grocers, restaurants, state/county fairs, or any other sources in order to provide it to those in need." And that is exactly what Stacey, her friends, family, and her co-workers at Wayne Moving & Storage did last weekend.
Stacey started gleaning with her girl scout troop several years ago, while they working on their Bronze Award -- the highest honor a Girl Scout Junior can achieve -- that focused on learning about food insecurity. When her troop later split up, she kept on gleaning with the help of her family and friends. Then when her employer, Wayne Moving & Storage, an agent of Atlas Van Lines, joined Move For Hunger, Stacey started sending out emails at work and people started coming out as their contribution to the cause, she says.
Stacey is quick to commend Lewis Barnard of Barnard's Orchard and his willingness to help out as well.
"He's a great man for allowing us to come and donate apples," she says of Lewis, "He really opens his heart to the community."
We want to commend Stacey and her incredible passion and work with Wayne Moving & Storage, especially as a gleaner! With the 1,300 pounds of apples that they collected, Stacey and the other gleaners are helping the over 1.7 million people that are affected by food insecurity in Pennsylvania.
Do you want to fight hunger and food waste in your community? Find out how you can help or even reach out to local farms about gleaning!
