Join the Sustainable Ballard Gleaning volunteers in 2021!

Over 15,000 pounds of food collected in 2020!

Sustainable Ballard Market Gleaning is a program for volunteers to collect fresh, local produce from the Ballard Farmers Market vendors and bring them to the Ballard Food Bank for those who need it most. In 2020, we collected over 15,100 pounds of food for the Food Bank. We have also teamed up with the Seattle Farmers Market Association and Ballard Alliance for the Farm it Forward program, where donations from the community are used to buy produce from the Farmers Market vendors, which is then donated to the Ballard Food Bank.

We’re always looking for new volunteers to help feed the community while also adhering to COVID-19 best practices. Volunteers can expect to help by collecting produce from the vendors, carrying boxes and sorting the collected food into containers at the Food Bank.

Gleaning takes place from 1:45pm to ~4pm on Sundays, beginning about 15 minutes before the end of the market. The time it takes depends on how much food we collect. In previous weeks, we’ve collected over 500 pounds of food on a single Sunday! We’re flexible with how often you volunteer – even giving your time once a month makes an impact in our community.

This is a simple and rewarding way to keep good produce out of the compost bin and get it to our Ballard neighbors in need. It’s fun, rewarding, and makes a tangible difference!

To learn more, email Jill at gleanballard@gmail.com with the subject line “New Gleaning Volunteer.”