By Jean Blish Siers *
First she did a little hip-hop twerk, and then easily moved into a graceful plié. We were discussing her dance class as we gleaned our way through about fifteen rows of blackberries. Most of the other kids from her youth group had given up – it was hot and humid and the fun had worn off for them – but this sparkling, almost 10-year-old was sticking with it.
After I ...
Continue Reading →By Jean Blish Siers *
I have a small scar on my neck where a very talented surgeon did a biopsy more than twenty years ago. She told me, drawing a line with a pen, “I’m going to cut right here because as you age, that line will just become a wrinkle anyway and the scar will be invisible.” That wasn’t a lot of comfort. Not only was I worried about my health (the ...
You’d be surprised to learn what a potato can do; it can clean silver, grow roses, and even power a clock. One pound of seed potatoes can grow up to ten pounds of potatoes!
Concord United Methodist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee has seen the power within a simple potato. For years, Concord has been the host for a seed potato drop in Eastern Tennessee. A load of seed potatoes is delivered to the church in ...
Continue Reading →By Jean Blish Siers *
“If food waste were a country, it would be the world’s third-largest emitter of CO2, after China and the United States. In our nation alone, we throw away 63 million tons of food a year, even as 40 million Americans are considered food insecure,” states a recent article in the Washington Post. It’s a dramatic opening to an article with an intriguing premise – ...
By Jean Blish Siers *
I’m a sucker for certain types of Internet “click bait,” those headlines written solely to drive traffic to a page. I skip most (not all) videos of funny cats, but if I see a headline that says, “The 10 Things You Should Always Buy at Trader Joe’s,” I’m there! And of course the other day I clicked on, “The Items You Should Never Buy at Costco.”
There is a Costco near my house and I’m typically there ...
Continue Reading →By Jean Blish Siers *
“No throwing!” That’s one of our main rules as we glean the fields in Charlotte, North Carolina. “If you throw, you have to leave the field.” I tell everyone this – children and adults alike – before we head out to glean.
People think it’s strict, and I have often been accused of being no fun at all. I’ve raised a child. I’m used to the accusation and can live ...
Continue Reading →VOLUNTEER WAIVER
In the event I, or a registered family member, suffers any illness or accident requiring emergency hospitalization, medication, or other medical assistance while participating in a gleaning event, permission is given for any medical treatment which is deemed necessary and reasonable under the circumstances. I fully understand and comprehend that reasonable care will be exercised by the adult staff for this gleaning event to protect the safety of those involved. I understand that the field supervisor’s instructions must be followed at all times, and that I am responsible for any damages caused to fields, farms, or equipment by me/my family members not following these instructions.
Photos, videos, and other images in which I, or a registered family member, appear that are taken during gleanings may be used by the Society of St. Andrew for news coverage, newsletters, reports, displays, and for other print, broadcast, web, or electronic news or promotional purposes.
I do not hold the board, members, or employees of the Society of St. Andrew (SoSA,) or any volunteers liable for injury, bodily harm, accidents, or death of myself/my child during events sponsored by the Society of St. Andrew. Neither will I hold the person(s) who owns and/or operates the property from which we glean, salvage, or to which we deliver food, liable for accidents, injury, or death during the gleanings or other SoSA events.
For a PDF print version of this waiver, click here.
How the Story of the 12 Baskets is Connected to SoSA’s Name
Matthew 14:16-21
But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” They said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.
2 Kings 4:42-44
[…]the man of God […] said, “Give them to the people that they may eat.” His attendant said, “What, will I set this before a hundred men?” But he said, “Give them to the people that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left over.’” So he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.
