Our neighborhoods are abundant with fruit trees. Walk along the streets and alleys in West Seattle in the summer and you will find plums dropping off trees, pears ready for picking, even soft ripe figs and juicy grapes. In the past, much of this fruit has gone to waste. Home owners are often too busy to harvest the fruit, or may not know how to use the quantity that their trees are producing. At the same time, there are long lines at our local foodbanks, with people who cannot afford to put food on the table.

Since 2007, Community Harvest has been mobilizing volunteers to make use of this abundance. Starting with just 900 pounds in 2007, we have increased to 6,600 pounds in 2009, with a total of over 11,000 pounds of local fruit. Instead of dropping on sidewalks and attracting pests, this fruit is distributed to our local foodbanks, providing delicious fresh produce for people who otherwise could not afford it.The variety of fruit in our climate is amazing: plums, grapes, pears, apples, and even figs.

We are extremely grateful to our generous fruit tree owners and volunteer harvesters, helping to make our program a success. In 2009, over 45 community volunteers contributed their time to pick over 75 trees. You can see a King 5 news story about our harvest. If you would like to help volunteer, please fill out our online volunteer form. If you have a tree to donate, please fill out our online tree donor form.