Rows and rows of potatoes at Johnson’s Backyard Garden (JBG) waited to be harvested. With the unforgiving Texas heat, it wouldn’t be long before they went to waste.
With more than 10,000 pounds of potatoes in the field, JBG didn’t have enough labor to harvest them. They made the call to save the taters and the Food Bank answered.
Instead of letting them go to waste, they offered for us to rescue as many potatoes as possible to bring back to the Food Bank for families facing hunger.
We had just a few days to spread the word and recruit volunteers. Once again, our amazing community stepped up for this gleaning opportunity.
On a Friday morning, before the intensity of the sun hit, a group of about 20 volunteers with hats showed up on the field ready to get their hands in the dirt to rescue the potatoes.
In just four hours, our rock star volunteers harvested 8,690 pounds of potatoes!
We can’t thank our volunteers enough for all their hard work to rescue the potatoes. The Food Bank couldn’t let food go to waste when one in six Central Texans face hunger. Thanks to you, families will have organic, fresh potatoes on their dinner table.
Special thanks to JBG for this great opportunity. It will help us fill the demand during the summer when kids no longer have access to school meals and higher utility bills and childcare costs put a strain on families’ budgets.
Huge thanks to everyone for helping us save the potatoes!
