Inspiring San Diego County residents to harvest,
share and celebrate the urban bounty.


Urgent Need for Volunteers -- Peak Harvest Season Nears

Senior Gleaners seeks volunteers ages 55 and over to join crews now as we prepare for the upcoming peak citrus harvest season. We also need people who can haul several filled banana boxes of fruit in their own vehicle. Learn more.

SPECIAL THANKS — We are grateful to donors and volunteers who have continued to support Senior Gleaners during the complications of continuing our work despite challenges of COVID19.

We particularly appreciate support from:

Our volunteers who give not only their time and talent but also (along with their family members and friends) provide our main source of donations.

  • A number of residents who donate fruit to be picked PLUS financial contributions.
  • Annual grants over many years from the Matthew 25 Fund of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
  • Many annual grants from the San Diego County Employees' Charitable Organization.
  • Two grants from Las Patronas, a San Diego philanthropic organization formed in 1946.
Established in 1994, Senior Gleaners provides multiple benefits:

  • Harvesting and collecting food otherwise wasted to feed those needing it the most.
  • Providing meaningful activity and social connections for volunteers.
  • Helping residents (many of them seniors unable to care for their trees) harvest surplus crops—mostly citrus.
  • Keeping tons of organic material out of landfills where it generates harmful methane gas.
  • Helping businesses comply with state laws restricting disposal of organic materials.

San Diego is fortunate to have a year-round growing season and a long cultural tradition of sharing and growing food, but every year thousands of tons of fresh fruit and vegetables go to waste on farms large and small and even in backyards as fruit trees go unharvested. At the same time, one in six county residents (a high percentage of them children) suffer from food insecurity.

JOIN US: VOLUNTEER. DONATE SURPLUS FOOD. SUPPORT OUR WORK.