Volunteer Newsletter, May 8, 2006

CIWP:  (two groups - once a week)                        4,203 lbs
CIWP is our most unsung weekly heros.  These are groups of developmentally disabled adults that Village Harvest has made work opportunities for.  Equipped with pickers only, we send them out to harvest all the shorter/smaller trees usually belonging to "little old ladies".  They take some for themselves and deliver the rest to Sacred Heart CSA.  They love giving back to the community that they depend so much upon. 

Youth Corps (two groups - once a month)                1,180 lbs
There are two groups, one from Andrew Hill HS and the other from Independence HS.  This is an after school program for at risk youth.  They have some tutoring then are paid for a couple of hours of community service as work training.  Their fruit gets delivered to Sacred Heart CSA & Gloria Day in E. San Jose.

Palo Alto w/ Valley of Heart's Delight (4 times a year) 4,811 lbs
This is where Village Harvest began with 5,000 lbs our first year.  Now we're harvesting nearly that in just two harvests so far this year.  We've come a long way.

Morgan Hill Team (ad hoc right now)                        1,710 lbs
Yes, we do have a group of great volunteers in Morgan Hill, I just haven't had the time to develop the homeowner base in that area to keep them busy.  What they've harvested was just from one harvest, one orchard, and in record time too.

Pinewood High School (one day event)                     5,200 lbs
The Junior Class of Pinewood HS joined us for a morning harvest.  We split up into 5 groups and harvested 5 large locations in the San Jose/Campbell area.  Unfortunately our afternoon plans got rained out but 50 kids can do a lot of good in one morning.

Stocklmeir Orchard (one morning)                            1,660 lbs
We had a terrific turn out of volunteers but the yield in the orchard was disappointing.  We did get the fruit off early and in hopes that the trees will have enough energy to turn out a better crop next year. 

Mountain View Team (1st & 3rd Sunday mornings)     10,029 lbs
Lead by Karen Hurst, this is a fun way to get some exercise on a Sunday morning.  And w/o fail, there's 1/2 ton or more for the Mt. View CSA by lunch time.  Just goes to show what someone with terrific organization and leadership skills can make happen.  Karen volunteered herself as a leader.  You can too =)  We're looking for leaders in Cupertino.  (see below)

San Jose Team (every Tuesday mornings)                21,158 lbs
When I think about this team, Margaret Mead's quote come to mind.  "Never doubt that a small committed group of people can change the world, indeed it's the only thing that has."  SJ Team is Bill, Greg, Heather, Diana, Karen & Pat with the occasional visitor.  This is a testament not only to how productive this group has become, but also to the productivity of the trees in the San Jose area.  It's not unusual for this group to encounter trees with 700 lbs or more.  Amazing!

        The Berkeley Team hasn't had any harvests this year so far. 

What's next for us?  We have an opportunity to start a new weekend team with Cupertino Community Services.  Saturday's once a month.  This team would help us reach homeowners in Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Saratoga & W. San Jose.  There's a desire for more fresh fruit by the low income families in Cupertino and we have plenty homeowners and volunteers looking for more Saturday events, what we need is 1-2 Team Leaders to lead this activity and a truck driver.  Takes about 1-2 hours more than the actual harvest (9am-12pm) for folks with leadership and organization skills.   Contact joni@villageharvest.org if you think you'd like to take this on or share the responsibility with someone else.

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