It’s been a busy year for the North Okanagan Gleaners.
The charity accepts donated food from farmers and orchardists and then turns it into a dehydrated soup mix.
“We have had a record year in both the amount of produce we have had coming in and the amount of food we have sent out,” said Russ Phillips, North Okanagan Gleaners plant manager.
“We have sent out nearly 13 and a half million servings of food and we have almost reached a million pounds of food coming in.”
That means Phillips and his volunteers have been able to help feed thousands of people in need around the world.
In 2021 the Gleaners produced 5.1 million servings of food.
Phillips says it’s the volunteers who make it possible to send the servings of dehydrated soup mix to various organizations around the world.
For 13 years, Hank Beerstra has volunteered with the Gleaners, and the 92-year-old now dedicates three days a week to fighting hunger.
“I have seen a lot of things in my life, and hunger is one of them. I lived during the Second World War and I learned how to help other people,” said Beerstra.
To continue helping people in need in the new year, the Gleaners need more volunteers. To sign up visit www.novgleaners.org