Valley View Community Food Bank wants your citrus!

SUN CITY, Ariz. - Jan. 1, 2014 - PRLog -- Valley View Community Food Bank is helping the community by offering a win-win situation for homeowners with an over abundance of citrus trees and those affected by hunger. The food bank gleaning service is aimed at residents or business owners that currently have ripe citrus trees on their property. A team of staff and trained volunteers will come to your location to “glean” and collect citrus from owners that often find themselves with too much fruit. The fresh citrus, which would otherwise go to waste, is collected, cleaned and packed by volunteers to help feed the hungry. The healthy food is then distributed by the food bank staff within emergency food boxes that get distributed to the working poor, elderly, families, children and others in need.

Last years gleaning service collected over 346,000lbs of fresh fruit to the food bank. “This is healthy food that most people on a struggling budget can’t afford.” said Jesse Ramirez, founder and president of the food bank. “Instead of letting it all go to waste, we can send a team out to your property and collect the much needed fruit and then get it into the hands of people in need. It really is a win-win for the community.” Jesse is anticipating that they will be able to collect approximately 450,000lbs of citrus this year. “We started a little earlier this year and the program runs into the end of May 2014. We’re hoping the community will again participate in this service and help us get this vital food to those who aren’t able afford it.”

The gleaning service is $15 per tree and can be scheduled by contacting via email gleaners@YourFoodBank.org or by calling (623) 583-FOOD (3663). Scheduled services are Monday – Friday 8am - 4pm and is running from now until May 31, 2014. The food bank will service the following valley locations: Sun City, Surprise, Sun City West, Peoria, Glendale, El Mirage and Youngtown.

Valley View Community Food Bank operates in Sun City in a 64,000 square foot building and serves over 264,000 families and is supported by over 760 volunteers. The food bank distributed over 13.2 million pounds of shelf stable food and more than 14.4 million pounds of fresh produce to those in need last fiscal year. Our mission is to serve those in need with compassion and respect while providing the resources for wholesome nutritious food. Valley View Community offers a safe positive environment where those seeking help can easily find the resources they need to feed themselves and their families. Valley View Community Food Bank is a 501 (c) 3.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Jesse Ramirez, Founder and President of Valley View Community Food Bank. 10615 W. Peoria Ave., Sun City, AZ 85351 (623) 933-3358, http://www.YourFoodBank.org jesse@YourFoodBank.org http://www.Facebook.com/YourFoodBank