Baton Rouge Green Hosting 5th Annual “Share the Fruit” Event
Baton Rouge Green is hosting their fifth annual Pick Event! Baton Rouge citizens with fruit and citrus trees are invited to “share the fruit” with capital area families in need this holiday season. Baton Rouge Green’s annual City Citrus Pick Event seeks residents with prolific fruit trees in their yards to offer them up for harvesting. The event is scheduled for Saturday, December 8 and is sponsored by Lamar Advertising and Bofinger’s Tree Service and benefits the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.
Residents, or “Citrus Shepherds” as they are called, can register their trees to be harvested for free at BatonRougeGreen.com by Friday, November 30. Baton Rouge Green will train, equip and deploy volunteers on December 8, to carefully harvest the fruit. The fruit, grown and harvested entirely by volunteers, is taken directly to The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, where it is distributed to families in need through their channels.
“We know that hundreds of young citrus trees were lost in last winter’s freeze, but we also know that there are still hundreds of established trees producing fruit that is not entirely consumed by residents. We hate to see this healthy, natural food source go to waste. Our volunteers are trained not to damage the trees or the Shepherd’s property. We just want our community to be good stewards of these valuable resources,” says Christopher Cooper, City Citrus Program Manager.
“We are very thankful to Baton Rouge Green and City Citrus for putting together this pick event each year because it provides fresh donated citrus to our clients. We know that the more fresh fruits and produce we can distribute leads to better outcomes for those in need,” explains Mike Manning, President and CEO of the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.
During the 2017 Pick Event 80+ volunteers harvested and delivered over 2500 lbs. of fresh citrus fruit to the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.
“Pickers”, or volunteer harvesters, are also needed and can register at BatonRougeGreen.com. Kids are welcome to join their parents or guardians for a family-friendly day of service.
For more information, visit batonrougegreen.com or email info@batonrougegreen.com.
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