Beach Food Pantry, a nonprofit providing free groceries to individuals and families in the Outer Banks community who have been affected by a temporary crisis or emergency, has become one of over 65 nonprofits around the country to launch a mobile app that directs home and community gardeners to donate a portion of their fresh grown produce to support local hunger relief efforts.
Fresh Food Connect’s mobile app coordinates donations from home and community gardeners to local non-profit organizations working to address food insecurity on a local level. Gardeners download the app, and are prompted to indicate if they have surplus bounty to share. In zip codes across the country, home gardeners can easily arrange for extra produce to be picked up from their doorstep or delivered to a local organization providing free groceries.
“With so many home gardeners in Dare County, utilizing Fresh Food Connect’s app could be an innovative way to help get healthier, better-quality food into the hands of our clients. It’s also a win-win for the gardener that is experiencing a bumper crop and isn’t sure what to do with it all,” said Elisabeth Silverthorne, Executive Director of Beach Food Pantry. “They can bring it to us to be shared with their neighbors in need.”
“We are thrilled to partner with organizations across the country that support community members facing food insecurity. We know that gardeners are some of the most generous people around, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to engage them in the critical hunger relief efforts happening in their local communities,” said Kayla Birdsong, CEO of Fresh Food Connect. “If you are a gardener, just download the free app and you will be connected to an inspiring organization in your community.”
Fresh Food Connect has exciting plans for the 2023 growing season and is actively recruiting gardeners to share their bounty of surplus produce from their gardens to hunger relief centers. You can learn more about becoming a gardener and how to sign up at https://freshfoodconnect.org/gardeners/.
