Published 8:30 am Friday, October 11, 2024
Nearly 300,000 pounds of Washington apples are heading across the country to help feed people impacted by the back-to-back hurricanes that have slammed the Southeast.
Seven 42,000-pound loads are bound for Georgia, Florida and North Carolina.
“What they’ve requested right now is just tree fruit — stuff that’s easy to handle and eat, nothing that really requires cooking right now,” Feeding the Northwest executive director Rod Wieber told the Capital Press.
Apples are an “easy, handheld fruit” that don’t require immediate refrigeration, Wieber said.
“For a lot of folks that just don’t have maybe electricity that are in remote areas, this can be dropped in or brought in to them,” he said. “That’s an easy, quick meal; somebody can have a snack or something. And it’s one of the items that they’re really asking for. Washington state grows some of the best apples in the nation.”
Feeding the Northwest works with the region’s agricultural community to send fresh produce to food banks throughout the U.S. through the Feeding America network, Wieber said.
Each month, the organization receives about 7 million pounds of fresh produce, including apples, potatoes, onions and pears.
About one-third remains in the Northwest and the rest goes to food banks that ordinarily don’t have access to that type of produce, Wieber said.
“When you see the devastation that happened in North Carolina and now the news that’s just coming out of Milton, we know there’s going to be more long-term support over the next two to four weeks, and maybe even longer,” Wieber said.
The organization works directly with the companies that grow, pack and ship the produce, Wieber said. They pack the produce for Feeding the Northwest, which then ships it to where it’s most needed.
“We’ve had a long association with Rod and his group, and we have always felt very strongly that it’s important to give back a little bit,” said Mike Wilcox, president of Yakima Fruit and Cold Storage. “This was an opportunity to give back for something that was immediate and obviously devastating.”
Wilcox recommends working with Wieber’s co-op to other farmers interested in assisting.
“Sometimes people get caught up in all the other things they’re doing and they just don’t really think about it,” he said. “Bless Rod and his group because they bring it to your attention and say, ‘Hey, there’s a need here, can you help fill that?’ I think for any farmer, if they’re able to do it and they have an interest in it, it’s a great way to do it.”
It’s part of our company’s philosophy to make regular donations of apples to Second Harvest for their hunger-relief needs,” said Johnny Gebbers, warehouse manager for Gebbers Farms in Brewster, Wash., in a Feeding the Northwest press release. “When we got the call about helping to provide assistance for those impacted by Hurricane Helene, our team immediately jumped into action to pack six truckloads of Washington-grown apples.”
Growers support hunger relief efforts and assist their neighbors year-round, Wieber said.
“They have such a great philosophy and philanthropic heart,” he said. “A year ago, when the wildfires happened on Maui, Yakima Fruit was quick to respond and support. Several years ago, there were hurricanes that hit Texas, especially the Houston area. At that time as well, the apple community supported with several loads of apples.”
Feeding the Northwest sources about 3 million pounds of apples each month, Wieber said.
“We have a really steady flow of apples to feed not only those here in Washington and our neighboring states, but to share it with other places that really need it as well,” he said.
