Fruit Share having ‘phenomenal year’

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/08/2018 (2732 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hey Brandon gardeners and homeowners — have you got an abundance of apples? Potatoes aplenty? An opulence of onions? Or maybe a bounty of berries?

Are you looking to give some of it away? The volunteers at Fruit Share Brandon would like to hear from you.

“We’re looking for any type of produce that people aren’t using in their gardens, and any kind of fruit tree that we can share with other people,” said Fruit Share Brandon co-coordinator and volunteer Kathy Bruederlin.

Except for crabapples.

“Crabapples are tough,” she said. “I’ve actually decided not to pick them anymore because I don’t have any takers.”

The program, which has been operating in Brandon since 2013, works by partnering volunteer pickers with local growers who have fruit trees and vegetable gardens with extra produce that they cannot use or would like to give away.

After the fruit is picked by volunteers, it’s shared in equal thirds between the growers, the pickers and local charities who could use fresh fruit. These include Samaritan House Ministries, Teen Adult Challenge, Helping Hands Centre, the Friendship Centre, Prairie Oasis Centre, and several others.

Bruederlin will even stop people on the street who seem like they may not have a lot of food, look especially hungry, or just need a hand.

“I’m trying to get to as many people as possible,” Bruederlin said.

More often than not, she says most of the fruit and veggies end up being donated to local good will organizations, and that those who give of their produce and their time tend to give generously.

“The people in Brandon are so generous to let us come to their places and do this,” Bruederlin said during a phone conversation with The Sun on Wednesday afternoon.

“Otherwise, a lot would end up in the landfill. When it lands on the ground, the homeowners rake it up and throw it in the dumpster. (And) there’s a lot of super good people out there as far as pickers go. They give their time. It’s pretty awesome.”

Bruederlin and her team of volunteer pickers — she has pages and pages of names to call up — have been busy this week going to back yards across the city picking apples. On Wednesday, she was joined by two women, one of whom brought her four boys to help pick.

“I do encourage people to bring their kids,” Bruederlin said. “All the little guys do such a good job. We assign them to pick up the ones on the ground.”

Though Fruit Share Brandon has been operating for the last number of years in Brandon, it has had a bit of a bumpy ride. Last year, Bruederlin started to co-ordinate the pickers for Fruit Share, when it was operated under Samaritan House Ministries. But the organization was having difficulty keeping it going, especially this year as Samaritan House was unable to secure funding for summer students from the federal government.

Seeing a need, Bruederlin offered to take over the program, along with co-coordinator Ken Barclay. They have been picking since May, and have already donated 1,137 pounds of produce to local organizations. On Wednesday morning alone, her car was loaded down with several large buckets and containers of apples picked from a tree at a residence on Driftwood Crescent.

“It’s a phenomenal year,” Bruederlin said. “The trees are just loaded. We average probably 30 gallons minimum a pick, for apples.”

Though the organization is completely volunteer and usually doesn’t require any monetary donations, Bruederlin said they could use a little help in funds for insurance purposes in the spring. Otherwise, she said they seem to have everything they need to get out and pick.

“We already have ladders and pickers. That’s all we really need. It’s not a really needy organization.”

Should anyone wish to reach Fruit Share Brandon to make a donation of either fruit or vegetables, or volunteer their time to pick, contact Bruederlin by email at fruitsharebrandon17@gmail.

com or call her directly at 204-727-7857, and leave a message.<t$>

» mgoerzen@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @MattGoerzen