TIPS FOR GLEANING
Gleaning Locations: Boone Hall Plantation in Mount Pleasant, and Rosebank Farms on Johns Island. Others may be added in the future.
Contact: Unless otherwise instructed, the Fields to Families director is your contact person. If you are given the farmer’s cell phone number, please use it only when you are on the farm and need help. We do not like to bother the farmers with phone calls unless absolutely necessary. PLEASE make sure the director has your cell phone number!
What to bring:
- Water, gloves, hat, sunscreen, insect repellent or anything you need for your comfort.
- Appropriate tools for cutting produce.
- Sturdy boxes to hold the produce (banana boxes from the produce department of a supermarket are best).
- A small bucket for harvesting between the rows. It is easier to carry a small pail than to try to bring the large container with you and then try to carry the large container when it is filled. Leaving the larger container in the van and carrying the produce to the container is a back saving idea.
- It is a good idea to start harvesting from the farthest point on the row and work your way to the end.
Reporting: Please report your time and mileage (and pounds, if applicable). Please report the name, time and mileage for volunteers you bring with you.
You may use the following chart or simply send your information via email.
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DATE
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NAME
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Time Left Home
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Time Returned
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TOTAL
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Round Trip
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(End Time)
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TIME
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Miles Traveled
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- Mileage: Mileage is counted round trip, door to door. Only the driver’s mileage is recorded. If you are a passenger, your mileage is 0 miles, but please count the time you travelled while a passenger in someone else’s car. You can claim the mileage related to charitable work on your taxes if you itemize your deductions. Let me know at the end of the year if you want your mileage record.
- Pounds of each vegetable harvested: Generally that will not be your responsibility. If you are needed to weigh the produce, a scale will be provided for you.
- Send your report to the director as soon as possible after returning from gleaning. Use the form above or make up your own. Reporting is a necessary part of what we do since our nonprofit status depends on keeping accurate records as to how many volunteers, hours volunteered and mileage travelled as well as the pounds donated to the hungry.
General Information:
- Safety is the most important factor in gleaning. If any activity is of questionable safety, DO NOT DO IT!
- When you are gleaning, remember you are on another person’s land. We want to be welcome guests and invited back frequently! Make sure we don’t leave behind any trash.
- Glean and park only in areas designated by the proprietor or leader.
- Fields to Families encourages you to take for your personal use, a small quantity of what you harvest.
WE APPRECIATE ALL YOU DO TO HELP FIELDS TO FAMILIES
FEED THE HUNGRY.Names of volunteers are published in the newsletter. If you have an objection, please let me know.
HAVE A GREAT TIME. YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF OTHERS.
Tips for Gleaning (PDF)
