Staff Mail

Cooperative Gleaning

Paul Larche
Director, Cooperative Gleaning
 

The Cooperative Gleaning efforts of ComLinks began in 1989 as a result of the ever-increasing number of Franklin County families needing food assistance. A way to end absolute poverty, gleaning is and old practice. In the Bible, the law code given to the Israelites requested that some portion of what is grown on the land be left for the poor and landless to harvest: When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow; that your Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands (Deut. 24: 19–20).

Today, the mechanical harvesting of commercial growers, coupled with the cosmetic standards of the retail industry, combine to render a significant amount of any crop “unusable.” Partnering with numerous local farmers, NYS Dept. of Correctional Services, corporate and local businesses and individuals, ComLinks is consistently evolving to further address the rising need for supplemental nutrition for low-income families in our communities as well as those who walk into the numerous pantries we serve.

In 2002, the ComLinks Cooperative Gleaning program delivered 1,443,907 pounds of nutritious food to 74 pantries and soup kitchens in nine upstate New York counties, providing food to help feed nearly 30,000 people each month. Also, through our partnerships with New York City, we were able to donate nearly 12 million pounds of food to organizations located in the Metropolitan area. Our five NYS Correctional Gardens, including a garden at our warehouse location in Malone, produced nearly 11,000 pounds of fresh vegetables despite a particularly difficult growing season. In addition, we were able to glean over 120,000 pounds of fruit and vegetables from area farmers.
 

The past year of 2002 proved to be bittersweet for the ComLinks Cooperative Gleaning Program. In August we said a final farewell to R. Lloyd Richey who retired as Gleaning Coordinator. Lloyd was instrumental in the success of the program and is fondly referred to as “The Grandfather of Gleaning.” Under Lloyd’s guidance, the program grew from year to year as he laid the groundwork for our partnerships

with NYS Department of  Corrections as well as several local and corporate food donors. He will be sorely missed and we wish him the best!

(Case Study)

Making Lives Better - Every Day!

In 2002, the ComLinks Toy Drive provided toys for 564 Franklin County children through our linkage with the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots program. This year the need was greater than ever and we were able to meet this need not only by collecting donated toys from the Marine Corps program, but also from the Malone Fish & Game Club and Armful of Help out of New York City.

Working closely with the families in need, we also discovered that many of these people did not have enough food to get them through the holidays. ComLinks provided food care packages that included candy for the children to make their holiday even brighter.

In the past, many organizations assisted people during the holidays by sponsoring toy drives for children at Christmas. Today, many of these organizations no longer play a role in this important community service. Our Gleaning program has stepped up to fill this gap and even expand upon the efforts achieved by other organizations in the past.