Hunger Relief Agencies & Organizations

Complete the form on this page to request food from SoSA. (The program coordinator for your region will follow up afterward to discuss the possibilities.)

How Does It Work?

• SoSA volunteers glean, pick up, or harvest produce from farms, orchards, and farmers’ markets.
• Growers and packers donate entire truckloads of food that is surplus or rejected for cosmetic reasons.
• We deliver the food to food banks, churches, pantries, and other agencies. (There is no cost to the agency receiving the food.)
• You will have fresh fruits and vegetables to share with your clients.
• Hungry people will get fresh, nutritious food, thanks to your generosity.
• We’ve been doing this more than 30 years – currently 25-30 million pounds a year – it works!

What Sets SoSA Apart?
SoSA is the nation’s largest gleaner of fresh produce. We salvage produce at the farm and packing-house level that cannot be sold due to market constraints. We supply fresh vegetables and fruit that helps to improve the health and well-being of society’s most vulnerable. We have no handling fees – there is no cost to the agencies for the food we provide, helping to stretch tight budgets. The environment benefits; the food we salvage by the tractor-trailer load does not end up in landfills, but on the plates of the hungry.

Who Receives The Food?
The produce collected by SoSA’s volunteer gleaners, and the food received as donations from growers and packing houses, go to food pantries, food banks, low-income and elderly housing complexes, social service agencies, group homes, homeless shelters, rehab facilities, and more. Within 24-48 hours of picking, you can distribute the produce to hungry people in your community.

The Society of St. Andrew (SoSA) does not discriminate what people or organizations receive gleaned food based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, or religious affiliation.

Key factors that determine where food is shared include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Location of the recipient agency as compared to the origin of the provider. SoSA strives to maintain the shortest amount of food miles traveled for all food donations.
• Transportation and packaging expenses; different locations require different forms of packaging and/or transportation that may or may not be available at the precise moment a donation is offered from a provider.
• As well as recipient agency capacity relative to the overall quantity of donation, remaining shelf-life of fruits and vegetables in comparison to scheduled distribution dates of recipients, as well as a host of other variables that must be factored into a decision by the Program Coordinator overseeing the donation.

What is Gleaning?
Gleaning is an ancient tradition mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. Gleaners are allowed into fields and orchards to pick fruits and vegetables after the grower’s harvest. One-quarter of all food produced for human consumption is lost annually in the United States – enough to feed about 50 million people Since it might be unmarketable or not worth picking for market reasons, produce is sometimes plowed under or left to rot, though it is perfectly edible and nutritious.

At The Society of St. Andrew, we work with farmers who allow gleaners to pick what is left. The Society of St. Andrew also salvages fruits and vegetables that have already been picked and cannot be sold for various reasons.

Who are Gleaners?
They are people of all ages, rich and poor, who want to give of their time. We connect individuals, faith groups, scout troops, clubs, schools, and senior citizen groups with growers.