Share Your Harvest

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Share your garden harvest.

Each year the food pantries in our area distribute nearly 800,000 meals to seniors, adults, and children who need food assistance.

To do this, food pantries have traditionally relied on surplus canned goods. But these days nutritionists are encouraging food pantries to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to their clients.

This summer a food pantry near you would welcome a donation of home-grown fruits or vegetables from your garden. The pantries will distribute your donation through their regular food assistance programs.

The guidelines for donating garden food are simple:

• Call the pantry ahead of time to ask whether it is equipped to accept fresh garden produce.

• Deliver your donation to the pantry during its designated hours for accepting GardenShare food. Most food pantries do not have facilities for long-term storage.

• All donations must be fresh and undamaged homegrown fruits or vegetables. Do not donate what you yourself would not enjoy eating.

St. Lawrence County
To find a food pantry in St. Lawrence County, see the table below.

Counties West/South
To find a food pantry in Lewis, Jefferson, Oswego, Oneida, or Herkimer counties, contact:

The Food Bank of Central New York 
6970 Schuyler Road 
East Syracuse NY 13057 
(315) 437-1899 
(800) 444-1562 (in CNY only)
www.foodbankcny.org

Counties East/South
To find a food pantry in Franklin, Hamilton, Essex, Clinton, Warren, Washington, Fulton, or Saratoga counties, contact:

The Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York 
965 Albany-Shaker Road 
Latham NY 12110 
(518) 786-3691