Autumn Fruit Wanted for New Western Bay of Plenty Charity

Tauranga local Martin Stewart has recently volunteered as Community Fruit Harvesting co-ordinator in the Western Bay of Plenty area. To kick-start activity in the area, he is calling for people with unwanted fruit growing in their back yard to get in touch so the charity can help the hungry.

Community Fruit Tauranga volunteers pick fresh fruit and vegetables that would otherwise go to waste and give it to charities who share it with people in need such as the Tauranga Foodbank and Salvation Army.

Plums, berries, nectarines and peaches are still in season, with apricots, feijoas, figs, persimmons and early season apples and pears ripening soon.

Martin heard about the work Community Fruit Harvesting is doing in other parts of New Zealand on Facebook and was inspired to set up a group to help people locally.

“I’d like to see more people helping to deal with the hunger and poverty we have in our towns,” says Martin. “It’s not huge, but it is there and we need to do something to give these people a chance to improve their situation. Everyone can make a difference in some way, whether you have a fruit tree to offer, volunteer to pick fruit, make jam or even help to drop off flyers to spread the word. Volunteering is a feel-good family activity – my son is good at climbing trees so he’ll be up there picking fruit!

“Over time I’d like to get people growing their own food, even if it’s in containers on the back porch. I used to cook for a living, so I’m also keen to show others how to use home grown food to cook cheap, healthy meals.”

Community Fruit Harvesting is also calling for people with unpicked private or commercial orchards to step forward and offer the fruit to charity.

In addition to volunteers offering a fruit tree or their time to pick or preserve fruit, Community Fruit Tauranga is seeking local area co-ordinators to manage fruit picking and donations of sugar and jars, boxes, crates or large bags to put the fruit in.

People in the Western Bay of Plenty with a fruit tree available for picking or who want to volunteer to pick fruit or make jam can email Martin Stewart on pickfruittauranga@gmail.com or call 021 184 1018. Donations, which will be used for fruit picking equipment and ingredients for preserving fruit, can be made to National Bank, account number 06 0122 0292304 00 – please put Tauranga as the reference.

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Email: catherineorr@orcon.net.nz

About Community Fruit Harvesting

Community Fruit Harvesting is a registered charity set up to facilitate the sharing of fruit from our own back yards with charity. People with fruit they can’t pick or don’t want register their trees and volunteers pick the fruit and donate it to those that need it. The group was started in 2011 by Auckland North Shore resident Di Celliers, and currently operates in several cities and towns throughout New Zealand.

Like Community Fruit Harvesting on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CommunityFruitTauranga.

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