For 25 Years, Inland Harvest has Fed the Hungry

Next month, Inland Harvest will celebrate a milestone. September 2015 will mark the 25th anniversary of the nonprofit, which traces its history back to grassroots beginnings. Headed by a group of volunteers, Inland Harvest has worked through the decades to help eradicate hunger at the local level through a two-fold system: volunteers pick up any type of quality, donated food and immediately transport it in personal vehicles to an assigned location for distribution, explained Inland Harvest board member Dr. Cindy Geers. "The recipient organization will either feed the hungry a hot prepared meal, or hand out food baskets or bags, or both," said Geers. Inland Harvest was formed nearly 25 years ago in September 1990 by Barbara Wormser as a grassroots group of volunteers who saw the opportunity to reduce food waste and feed the hungry. Concerned about excess food, like food left at the end of a day from a restaurant, or grocery items approaching their "sell by" dates, or institutions with remaining unprepared cafeteria-style food, Wormser and other volunteers decided to put that food on the plates of those who might otherwise not have meals to eat. Lucretia Irving, an Inland Harvest board member of 24 years, estimated the group picks up about 85,000 pounds of food for donation each month. In the last seven months alone, the group has picked up more than 500,000 pounds of food for distribution, she explained. "We run close to 25 and 30 routes per day," said Irving, "and we have about 70 volunteers who drive through Riverside, Redlands, San Bernardino and Yucaipa to pick up this food for donation." Donors include Loma Linda University Medical Center, Loma Linda University's campus cafeteria, Loma Linda Catering, Loma Linda East Hospital, Patio Pantry, ACTS, multiple KFC and Chipotle restaurants, Clark's Nutrition, Von's, Shakey's Pizza, Michelle's Bakery, Ranch Market and Abel's Bakery, the Mitten Building, Rotary clubs, First Methodist Church, the Behavior Medical Clinic, Gourmet Pizza, Joseph's Blessing Center, Redlands Unified School District, the University of Redlands, Red Lobster and Trader Joes. Inland Harvest also welcomes donations from individuals with extra food from social events or even with excess fruit from their backyard trees or gardens. The food is donated to homes for abused women and their at-risk children, drug and alcohol recovery program homes, churches and publicly-funded feeding programs, and homeless shelters. Some destinations feed up to three meals per day, sometimes every day, explained Geers. The need for donations and volunteers is great. Irving began her volunteer efforts with the group in 1991 after reading about Inland Harvest in a local newspaper and deciding to donate leftover peaches from a tree on her property. She began volunteering with the organization that year and has continued on ever since. "I hate to see food go to waste and I know there are a lot of hungry people," said Irving. "And they're so appreciative of the food." Geers added that in 24 years the group has "[saved] over 27 million pounds of good, useable food from ending up in local dump sites. All the food makes its way to the hungry, need and poor - locally. It's a good thing to do for so many reasons." Inland Harvest pickup and delivery routes are scheduled on a continuous basis with pickups the same day and time once every week for volunteers. Those interested in volunteering their time, continuous or to substitute as needed, please call Lynne Zizzo at 951-203-9400 for interest in Riverside, or Lucretia Irving at 909-557-5956 in Redlands. To find out how to donate food, visit www.inlandharvest.orgto email a contact request.