Citrus Gleaning (Seasonal) 2

Citrus Gleaning (Seasonal)

Your excess citrus can become important nutrition for Arizona’s hungry throughout the entire state.  We are accepting citrus drop off donations from all zip codes at the following locations from January 11th, 2021 through April 30, 2021:

St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance – Phoenix
2831 N. 31st Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85009

St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance – Surprise
13050 W. Elm Street
Surprise, AZ 85378

If you live in one of the following zip codes (85351, 85373, 85374, 85375) you can sign up to have your citrus trees gleaned at no cost by one of our volunteer gleaning crews. Online registration for these zip codes will begin on Friday October 23rd, 2020 and end Monday, December 14th, 2020. The gleaning season in the west valley will start on Monday, January 11, 2021 and end on Wednesday March 31, 2021. Our volunteer gleaning crews will notify homeowners prior to their scheduled gleaning date. The scheduling process is ongoing throughout the entire gleaning season so you may not hear from your assigned volunteer gleaning crew until after January 11.  Please note that trees above 25 feet and those with power lines across them will not be gleaned.

CHANGES in 2021 CITRUS GLEANING

  • Due to the challenges resulting from the effects of COVID-19, we anticipate having a very limited number of volunteers to glean in 2021 and we are not sure of how much we are able to do. Registration with St. Mary’s Food Bank does not guarantee that we will be able to glean your trees. We recommend looking for alternative means to glean your trees in advance. 
  • To accommodate the anticipated volunteer shortfall and still gather as much citrus from the homeowners where we previously were able to provide volunteer gleaning services, we will be partnering with local churches and businesses to host Citrus Saturday drop-offs. We will have St. Mary’s Food Bank staff and trucks ready to accept your donations at the following locations on Saturdays from 9:00am – 3:00pm on February 6, 13,20, and 27:
    • Desert Garden United Church: 18818 N 128th Ave, Sun City West, AZ 85375
    • Shepherd of the Hills drop-off location —  5524 E. Lafayette Blvd., Phoenix, AZ 85018

Your citrus is important to us and we appreciate your donations. We hope you will participate in our new collection strategy by dropping off your citrus when we are in your area. Please endeavor to bring clean fruits void of leaves, stems, decay, etc., when dropping off your fruits. Thank you for understanding.

 

There will be no charge for citrus gleaning services, but donations will be greatly appreciated.

Click Here to Register

If you live in the designated zip codes (85351, 85373, 85374, 85375), please click the button to register. For further inquiries email  citrus@firstfoodbank.org or call (602) 343-5658.