Charlotte’s Gleaning Network gets food from fields to the hands of hungry people
By Kathleen Purvis
The Charlotte Observer
It started in a field of corn on a farm near Concord. It ended with a hungry family in Charlotte.
In between, a chain of volunteers gave time, sweat and gasoline to pick the corn, drive it where it was needed and hand it out.
“It’s the best job ever,” says Jean Siers, the Charlotte coordinator for the Gleaning Network, which matches volunteers with farms that have more food than they can pick. “At the end of the day, you know somebody ate something healthy and good because you picked up the phone.”
The Gleaning Network is one of a half-dozen groups in the Charlotte area that make up the system of food banks, emergency pantries and community gardens. It is also one of the few that focuses exclusively on fresh fruits and vegetables. Studies by the USDA have found that 17 percent of North Carolina households were in danger of not having enough nutritious food in 2012.
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