Village  Harvest

1st  Quarter  Program  Report

September  2016  through  November  2016

Supported  by: Ulupono  Initiative  |  The  Bill  Healy  Foundation  |  Atherton  Family  Foundation   The  Corporation  for  National  Community  Service  &  AmeriCorps  Hawai`i

Light  Shines  from  Within  Fund  at  RSF  |  Sidney  Stern  Memorial  Trust  |  Matson

Friends  of  Hawaii  Charities  |  Master  Gardener  Search  for  Excellence

Prepared  by: Malama  Kaua`i  |  PO  Box  1414,  Kilauea,  HI  96746  |  (808)  828-­‐0685  |  www.malamakauai.org

 

2

 

Village  Harvest

The Village Harvest gleaning project began in 2014 with support from HMSA and partners Malama Kaua`i and Kaua`i Master Gardener Program. During the first two years of the program, we were able to collect and distribute approximately 14,000 lbs of produce to 11 schools, afterschool programs, and food banks.

Thanks to the generosity of several funders, we have begun our three-year expansion of Village Harvest into a full-time program. Our Year 1 focus is on Expansion, Year 2 will be Efficiency, and Year 3 is Sustainability. In the first quarter of the expansion of Year 1, we have been focused on onboarding new staff, purchasing needed materials and supplies, creating processes and needed documents, and beginning outreach activities.

Our  1st  Quarter  Impact

● Harvested 6,916 lbs of unwanted and underutilized produce during 20 gleaning events

● Donated produce to 11 agencies including 4 Hawaiian-focused Public Charter Schools, 2 Boys & Girls Clubs, Hawaii Food Bank, Anaina Hou Community Thanksgiving Dinner, Church of the Pacific Food Pantry, Kilauea Food Pantry, and All Saints Pantry

● Developed 2 regional Gleaning Teams with a total of 14 volunteers, who contributed 103 hours to the program; identified a Gleaning Team Leader for the north shore

● Received 7 pieces of press coverage:

○ September 28, 2016 - KKCR, Kaua`i Community Radio - Interview on “Good Vibrations” show

○ October 28, 2016 - Hawaii Reporter - “Kauai Master Gardeners Receive International Award for Village Harvest”

○ November 1, 2016 - Garden Island - "Worldwide recognition, Kauai Master Gardeners receive international award" (front page!)

○ November 2, 2016 - KKCR, Kaua`i Community Radio - Interview on the “In the Garden, on the Farm” show

○ November 2, 2016 - KHON News Television Coverage

○ November 18, 2016 - Garden Island - “Week of Giving Starts Monday”

○ November 25, 2016 - Garden Island - "Produce from harvest feeds in Thanksgiving celebrations"

● Performed 3 outreach sessions to various groups across the island to educate them on hunger, produce access, and agricultural waste issues on Kaua`i; groups included North

3

Shore Lions Club, Kapa`a High School, and Kalihiwai Ridge Community Association, reaching over 50 individuals

● Expanded donor orchard sites from 6 donors to 10, which includes 6 farms and 4 individuals

Highlights  of  Activities

In the first quarter of the pilot’s expansion we made progress in further developing community resources for gleaning efforts across Kaua`i. Some highlights include:

● Brought on a full-time AmeriCorps VISTA member

to build the capacity of the program in its initial expansion year. We were blessed to find Tuula Perry, a Maui girl with a BA in International Relations with a minor in Not-for-Profit Management. In 2015, Tuula served in AmeriCorps VISTA as a Fruit Picking Coordinator for Garden to Table San Jose and Silicon Valley Health Corps, so she bring with her exceptional experience in gleaning programs

● Partnered with Gray Hayton, a huge gleaning advocate and master volunteer to act as North Shore Gleaning Team Lead for harvesting every Wednesday; he also assists with outreach and flyering the north shore community and has been gleaning for years

● Purchased a 4WD truck for transport and delivery of

produce, and variety of harvesting tools and supplies

● Received worldwide recognition through the award of 1st Place in the Community Service Category for the Master Gardener International Search for Excellence

● Expanded the orchard at Malama Kaua`i’s Community Farm in Kalihiwai, with help of 12 Kapa`a High School students during their senior service project, and during our Week of Giving Thanksgiving week, by planting 32 trees, including avocados, rollinia, papaya, banana, `ulu, and cacao. The North Shore Lions Club helped to prep the site & dig holes for volunteers!

● Expanded the orchard at CTAHR’s Agricultural Research Station in Wailua with Kaua`i Master Gardeners, planting 18 avocados trees

4

Future  Goals

Our 9/2016 – 8/2017 Annual Program Goals include:

● Deliver 20 Community Presentations

● Obtain 5 Pieces of Press Coverage - already surpassed annual goal!

● Build 5 Gleaning Teams with 5 Participants Each

● Achieve 600 Volunteer Hours Within Program

● Harvest 20,000 lbs of Produce & Divert it to Those Who Need It

In the 2nd quarter of Year 1 (December through February), we will be focused on scheduling and conducting outreach sessions, onboarding new volunteers and donors, and expanding gleaning team activities in the central, south and west regions of the island. We will also supply several schools and afterschool program recipients with blenders, juicers, and food dehydrators to ensure harvests are utilized fully, and incorporated into educational in-class programs for students.

Mahalos

Funders  &  Donors:

Community  Support:

Auntie  Lorna  &  `Ai  Pono Black  Dog  Farms Church  of  the  Pacific The  Garden  Island  Newspaper GoFarm  Hawai`i

Kapa`a  High  School  Service  Project Kaua`i  Nursery  &  Landscaping Kumu  Aina  Farm Moloa`a  Organica`a

North  Shore  Lions  Club Rising  Sun  Organic  Farm Ron  Wiley University  of  Hawai`i’s  CTAHR