• Feed the hungry with surplus nutritious food

• Access and improve food distribution and transportation systems

• Develop and share innovative hunger relief solutions

• Engage Rotarians in hunger relief

COMMUNITY REPORT

MISSION

Connecting farmers, truckers, volunteers & food banks for hunger relief

July 2012 - June 2013

2013 HIGHLIGHTS

• RFH celebrates 30 years in operation

• 3,000 plus volunteers clocked over 10,000 hours harvesting produce with farmers

• Within a few days, RFH salvaged nearly 60,000 pounds of sprouting onions for delivery throughout eastern WA

• 10 Harvest Against Hunger AmeriCorps* VISTA accounted for $1.25 million of in-kind and $3,800 in cash donations

HOEDOWNFEATURING§ §

SODO PARK3200 1st Avenue S • Seattle, WA • 98134

THURSDAYOctober 17th • 6:30 - 9:30 pm

a night of shenanigans at

Live music, dancing & calling from The Tall Boys. Plus games, funnel cake & fresh cider. How well can you lasso, horseshoe or bob for apples? Be there or be square!

Country food & non-alcoholic beverages included. Beer & wine available for a small fee with valid I.D.

in support of

ROTARY FIRST HARVESTAll proceeds will help bring truckloads of fresh fruits and vegetables to food banks statewide.

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STERLING REALTYORGANIZATION

firstharvest.org/eventsEARLY BIRD SPECIAL

October 12th - 16th online or at the door

$25$30

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David Schooler Board President

Rotary First Harvest is 30 years old. During that time we have supplied on average almost 1,000,000 servings per month to Washington’s hungry. All of the food we supply is from the farm: fresh fruit and vegetables. We are efficient. For every dollar contributed, we deliver approximately 35 pounds of produce.

RFH applies the principles of Rotary for hunger relief. Our work is to connect farmers, truckers, volunteers and food banks for hunger relief. That work comes in the form of several unique and innovative approaches, from our core work of providing full-sized truckloads of produce like apples, potatoes, onions and other produce items to our Harvest Against Hunger that connects growers directly with programs serving the hungry in their community.

The Rotary First Harvest Board is composed of 12 Rotarians from 10 clubs ranging from Enumclaw to Lynnwood. We have an exceptionally talented and committed staff: David Bobanick (Executive Director), Katy Boehm, Benjamin Rasmus, Lori Church and Karen Ullmann (AmeriCorps*VISTA).

Please consider joining us as a volunteer at one of our twice-monthly work parties at the warehouse locations of our partners Northwest Harvest and Food Lifeline and by making a donation as a financial contributor. I think you’ll be glad you did.

This past year, Rotary First Harvest secured nearly 9 million pounds of donated healthy fruits and vegetables. Farmers, packagers and companies donated peas, pears, apples, potatoes, onions, carrots and other produce items to initiate the process. RFH then secured trucking for these donations for drop off at our partners’ warehouses. From there, the produce was divided up by teams of volunteers and delivered to food banks around the state. Many of these hunger-relief agencies rely on produce from Rotary First Harvest to offer their clients.

Core Work: Large Scale Donations of Produce

Volunteers from a variety of ages, races, genders, and geographic locations volunteered their time and talents with Rotary First Harvest. More than 3,000 volunteers came out to harvest a variety of fruit and vegetable from kohlrabi to kale, pears to peas in fields and orchards across the state for a total of over 8,000 service hours. Hundreds more volunteers donned hair nets and gloves to spend a combined 4,000 hours packing RFH-secured fruit and vegetables at the Northwest Harvest and Food Lifeline warehouses.

Engaging Volunteers

Our Harvest Against Hunger (HAH) program places AmeriCorps*VISTA on the ground in communities around Washington and tasks them with dramatically increasing the amount of produce local food banks have to offer their clients. Harvest VISTA Jeni Roberts, who serves at Community Services Moses Lake, set her sights higher as she aimed at reducing waste and feeding people across Washington.

Not long into her year of service, Jeni discovered an abundance of fresh, yellow onions in a local warehouse. She investigated the situation and determined the onions arrived through a partner gleaning program with a senior center. Jeni contacted the senior center and discovered that the crates she had seen were only a single portion of the total donation of onions available. A farmer had been unexpectedly left with onions he could not sell. This year he had planted his allotted area and the onions still remaining in cold storage needed to be moved. So, he decided to donate them to feed hungry peoople. From that conversation, Jeni determined that she could help redistribute onions throughout the state using Rotary First Harvest (RFH) as the link.

RFH explained the opportunity to Gary Ash, a Rotarian and plant manager at National Frozen Foods in Moses Lake. NFF dropped off 36 tall totes, liners and pallets at the donating farm. The grower loaded those bins the same day. The full bins were then picked up by Second Harvest and taken to Spokane for sorting and distribution around the state. As a result, 9,120 pounds of onions went to food banks in the Moses Lake area and 50,000 pounds were redistributed to food banks throughout Washington. The total value of this in-kind donation is more than $75,000. That’s the power of collaboration!

Onions for Washington

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On Saturday, June 15, 2013, produce recovery programs from around Washington and Oregon converged in Portland for the Pacific Northwest Gleaners Conference. Rotary First Harvest led 50 people representing 15 different organizations in panel discussions and breakout groups that highlighted local knowledge and shared best practices. Nikil Rao, a recent graduate of the University of Washington and past intern for RFH, took responsibility for all event planning from registration to catering to agenda design. Overall, the conference was a big success. Best of all, the Pacific Northwest Conference did not work in isolation. The conference drew participation and support from organizations along the West Coast. The connections and collaborations formed are helping to build stronger donor relations and enhanced produce recovery systems.

Pacific Northwest Gleaners Conference

Reaching New Heights:Harvest Against HungerTen Harvest Against Hunger AmeriCorps*VISTA members were stationed at partner host sites around Washington State, all charged with getting more produce in to food banks. The Harvest VISTA worked for a full year connecting with local growers and volunteers to secure mid- to small-scale donations of surplus produce. These ten members engaged 2,700 volunteers who collected and distributed 814,00 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to individuals and families in need. In addition, the Harvest VISTA helped their volunteer base log more than 8,000 hours of service at 330 unique events. All told, the Harvest VISTA accounted for $1.25 million of in-kind donations and $3,800 in cash donations.

Summer VISTA Associates

This year, HAH continued the Summer VISTA Associate program, in which ten members are placed at a sponsored hunger relief agency for ten weeks from mid-June to mid-August. Summer VISTA members are tasked with starting or sustaining food bank, community and/or school garden projects that would supply the food bank with produce. These projects strengthen connections with schools and create new educational opportunities and curriculum to inform students about gardens and the importance of making healthy eating choices.

RFH is able to do the work we do with the support of so

many Rotary Clubs, businesses, foundations and individuals.

We will continue to develop programs to provide additional

high-quality fruits and vegetable to those in need, and look

forward to your continued participation and support.

2013 Donors &

Supporters

Alderwood Terrace Auburn BallardBellevue Bellevue Breakfast Burien/White Center Edmonds Daybreakers Emerald City Enumclaw Federal Way IssaquahKent Sunrise Kirkland Lake Forest ParkLake Union

Lynnwood MagnoliaMaple ValleyMercer Island Redmond Renton Seattle #4Seattle NortheastSeattle Metropolitan Shoreline Breakfast SouthcenterUniversity DistrictUniversity SunriseWoodinville

Cathy Gibson Christine Pearson Darin Willis Darrel EngDavid Hogan Debra Coates Deborah Seaman Dolly Ito Edwin Emerick Fred Boyns Glenna Gaddy Jim Hathaway John Naye

Larry Jackson Lori Budbill Lorrin Yee Lynn Cheeney Lynne Langseth Melissa Chin Neale Weaver Paula KuehlRandy Schnabel Stacey Ellingson Susan Beals Thomas Gilchrist

Basant & Shelia Singh Betty Woods Byron McCannCraig Shrontz David Schooler Donald Lockwood Gunnvor TveidtHarold & Mary Fran Hill Howard Johnson Jeff Johnson Jim & Nancy Crim Joanne Shanahan Joe Geivett

John & Mary Ellen Matthews Kirk Greene Keith Petrak Linda & Marvin SenffMayme Chinn Marite Butners Morris Kremen Sam Sullivan Steve Lingenbrink Tolga Ural Tom Eckhart Tom Smith

1,000+

Ann Novosel Aziza Elahi/Ahmad AttalhCarl Cady Ellen Ferguson Gary Spiess James Woodcock Jim Baker Joseph Skickich

Lisa Mayfield Marilyn & Richard HerzbergNancy Keenholts-Dalton Scott Soules Tim Garrigan Walter Clayton Wayland Scarff Wayne Pang

500+

250+

100+

Albert Kelly Aleta Eng Alex Hopkins Alison Verney Allan Boyce Angela HsuAnita Boser Ann Liberato April Alberg Art Haines Barbara Cerri Bibianna Cha Bob Rasmus Borje Saxberg Brandon Keough Brian Alilinger Brian Petrin Candy Lee Charles Pratt Charles Adams Chase AlvordClaudina Campbell Dale Watkins Daniel Dow Daniel Lyons Daniel Gianelli Daniel Johnson Daniel Gualtieri Darcell Slovek-Walker David DarbyDavid Weaver David Spicer David CleesDavid Bolson Devin Rosen Diane Cohn Diane Luedke Dina O’Leary Donald Austin Donna Hoffnauer Dorothy Wright VaioDoug Warne Dylan Jackson Eileen Supple-Byom Ezra Teshome Frank Montgomery Frederick Richard Gary CorbettGary Miller Grace Chien Greg Haffner Hang Ju Chen Henry Louie Henry Chin Ivor Parkes Jack Rogers Jack Wallace Jacki Lorenz James Larkin James Beley James Abbott James Furrow James Louie Jeanne Dewberry Jeff Clark Jeff Maki Jeffrey Brennan Jill Argo John Hamer John Slonecker John Biledeau John Moga

Joi Dennett Jon Allen Josh Gerstman Judith Lovelace Judith Jacob Julie Hungar Julie LeFebvre Julie Biniasz Julie O’Brien Petrini Julius Debro Kari Rasmus Kathryn Howden Kenneth Noreen Kenneth Peirce Kevin JewellKevin McDonough Laura Curnan Lawerence Greenblatt Lee Rees Leigh Rabel Len Rosoff Leslie Grace Lori Church Lynn Bratusek Marc Goldsmith Mardie Rhodes Margaret Johnston Mark Bingham Mary Dowling Matthew Wood Matthew Byom Megan SutherlandMelvin Roz Poll Michael Anderson Michael Tauber Michiko Murakami Nadine Grimes Nancy Bittner Nancy Crim Nancy Lee Neale Obedin Parker Whittle Patty Tang Paul Mar Paul Murakami Paula Laschober Pauline Eng Pete Ferren Phillip Ginsberg Rebecca Riesen Roberta McAbee Ron Keimer Ruben Ladlad Russell Amick Shannon Woodman HabelSon Michael Pham Stacy Strickland Stephen LaForte Susan Lindblom Susan Thorbrogger Susan Picquelle Tama Murotani Teresa Joy Murakami Thomas Sheehan Tom Lencheck Tyler Donnelly Vera Faye Ing Vicki Robbins Vijya Patel William Stoeck William MacDonaldWilliam Long

Rotary Club Financial Supporters

Board Members

David Schooler, PresidentTom Smith, Pres. Elect Marite Butners, TreasurerGeorge Frasier, Secretary Howard JohnsonDeborah Seaman

John Matthews Kenneth Peirce Nancy DaltonNeale WeaverLarry JacksonLisa Mayfield

Rotary First Harvest PO Box 94117 Seattle, WA 98124 (206) 236-0408 www.firstharvest.org

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