Project Abundance: Harvesting Your Excess for Families in Need

It seems obvious. There are families in our community that are hungry. There are Novato residents with fruit trees and vegetable gardens that are brimming with surplus produce. 

More often than not, that excess food ends up in the green can as yard waste or rots on the ground — a missed opportunity to help others in our community who would happily utilize it.

Enter Project Abundance, an idea that blossomed when Novato High School senior Haley Pavone noticed the problem and decided to take action. "I was amazed at the amount of wasted food," she said, observing neighborhood fruit trees in need of harvest. "I thought, 'there must be someone who could benefit from all this food.'"

The more she considered the waste, the more she felt compelled to find a solution. 

With this idea in mind, Pavone contacted the Marin Food Bank and started a local "teen glean" harvest program that will harvest or pick up your pre-harvested garden surplus for free, and deliver it to the food bank warehouse for distribution.

"It's a win-win," Pavone smiles, "residents can take advantage of our  harvest service knowing their surplus food will be put to good use."

If you live in Novato and would like to schedule a harvest with Project Abundance, please email projectabundance@yahoo.com or visit www.projectabundancemarin.com