We are part of a gleaners group located in a town about a 30 minutes drive from here (longer in rush-hour traffic). We pick-up once a week, and because of a variety of different reasons, my hubby is doing that after he gets off work on Monday (his only free evening right now). We pay about $11 per week (or $45 monthly) to be part of this group.
We never know what will be in a pick-up; so here is a list of what he brought home today:
- 62 oz carton of fresh blueberries
- 2 lbs zucchini
- 3 lbs orange tomatoes (as in the kind meant to be orange- not unripe ones!)
- 2 pint grape tomatoes
- 3 Large Portabella Mushrooms
- 2 bags Fresh Express Meditteranean express Salad Mixes
- 2 18oz bags Romaine lettuce
- 1.5 lbs oranges
- 1.5 lbs granny smith apples
- 6 pack of Yoplait raspberry yogurt
- 2 boxes Yogo fruit snacks
- 2 loaves organic sourdough sandwich bread
- 2 Costco roasted garlic loaves
- 3 lb jar of Walls Berry strawberry jam
- 16 oz tofu ( I actually like the stuff- stir fried with soy sauce- yum!)
- 2 boxes of Yoplait fizz go-gurt tubes
- Box of Hersheys extra dark expresso cacao (I'm glad I don't like coffee; this would be too tempting otherwise)
- Quaker multi-grain cinnamon rice cakes
- 2 lb Pumpkin loaf from a real bakery (sticker on this was $11. - can you imagine paying that?- however, this is my temptation in this load)
- Many bags of a variety of corn chips: corn, black bean, veggie, ect. (sometimes I wonder if they are using us as guinea pigs in this area, LoL)
- 2 cans of S&W kidney beans
- Pizza Hut pizza
- Lg bag of cheese-stuffed pizza sticks
- 4 capri-sun pouches/2 big snack bag Doritoes
- glove box emergency medical kit
- 1 lb hamburger patties (we don't usually get much meat in these pick-ups)
Why I am especially excited about this load is because it was so full of fresh fruits and veggies; these items are pretty expensive in our area stores. I stock-up on meat when it goes on sale,and even have frozen veggies stocked up, but it's not the same as fresh produce.
And I didn't include the yellow peppers, scallions, celery, ect. in the load that are kindof borderline in their use. After all, it is a gleaners program. But the blueberries were in better shape than some of the ones I see in the grocery store!
As I said before, we never know what we will get week-to-week. Sometimes we get very little produce, but loads of toilet paper, napkins, or shampoo. And it is usually items you need to use sooner rather than later (well, the toilet paper has a longer shelf life...).
But we always get the corn chips, Lol.
This program has been an incredible blessing to our family. God is so good!
2 comments:
That is truly wonderful! I wish we had something more like that around here. WE do the Angel food ministries program. www.angelfoodministries.org
Where does the food itself come from? Just curious, since there is a large variation in product.
What a wonderful blessing! Have a great day!
Marva- The food is donated from a variety of different local companys (bread,dairy,produce,ect.) as well as by some retail chains (pizza hut, starbucks, and costco to name a few)and a few grocery stores.
I wish everyone had a local program like this- I am very conscious of being thankful for this as an avenue by which God supplies our needs.
Blessings to your family!
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