It was a busy year for the North Okanagan Valley Gleaners, providing millions of meals to those in need around the world.
鈥淎t our Lavington processing plant, 1,677,142 pounds of produce were received. This is the most we have ever received in a year,鈥� said Harold Sellers on a Facebook post.
鈥淭hirteen shipping containers or trailers of packaged food were sent to 10 humanitarian aid partners, to be distributed in seven or more countries on three continents. The total number of meals in these shipments was 13,145,360, only slightly below the set in 2022.鈥�
The donated produce is processed at the Gleaner's plant in Lavington by a dedicated group of volunteers. The vegetables are dehydrated and made into a soup mix that is shipped to some of the poorest, more war-torn regions around the world.
鈥淎lso from our Lavington facility, nine containers of medical supplies and equipment were shipped in 2023. The value of these items was $1,438,864,鈥� Sellers said.
鈥淎s with the food, partners working in overseas countries receive and distribute these items. We partnered with five aid organizations in 2023, who sent the medical aid to Africa, Asia, Europe and Central America - eight countries in all.鈥�
Throughout the year, the Gleaners collect medical supplies such as wheelchairs, beds and other items that may be deemed outdated in Canada, but for a hospital with few resources they are a godsend.
The Gleaners also operate a second-hand furniture store in Vernon which helps support the processing plant.
鈥淏esides sales, the Gleaners works with local community agencies and churches to help people in need of furniture and appliances when they can鈥檛 afford to purchase them. Through an application and vetting process with these partners, in 2023 we provided furniture donations to 195 households in our area. This was done through 28 different agencies to the tune of $64,000. This program also helps these local ministries to apply their limited funds to other ways of helping their clientele,鈥� Sellers said.
The Gleaners are off to a strong start this year as well, having shipped a sea-can full of medical supplies to Zambia this week. They also have a cargo container full of soup mix that will be shipped out next week.
