Eileen Holloway woke up early Saturday to pick apples from an orchard in the Finley area.
The Kennewick woman wasn't getting paid for her work -- at least not in dollars. Instead, she got the satisfaction of knowing she helped provide needy families with fresh fruit.
"I hate to see good food go to waste," she said, hauling two bags of golden delicious apples to the front of the orchard.
Holloway is one of the hundreds who volunteer to glean apples, carrots, plums, apricots and other fruits and vegetables through Fields of Grace, a ministry of West Side Church in Richland.
Workers from the ministry have gleaned about 100,000 pounds of food this year, said Alissa Watkins, who started Fields of Grace in 2006.
The produce goes to Second Harvest Tri-Cities, which distributes it to area food banks.
Watkins started Fields of Grace after she and her family moved to the Tri-Cities from Virginia. She had been involved in gleaning there and was surprised to learn there was no gleaning group in this area.
The practice involves picking fruits and vegetables that are left over from harvest.
"It really minimizes what would otherwise go to waste," Watkins said.
The group coordinates with farmers, such as Sylvia Albertin of Albertin's Orchard in the Finley area, where the volunteers were picking Saturday.
"The farmers are incredibly generous," Watkins said. They often allow the volunteers to pick fruits and vegetables before harvest is complete, she said.
Volunteers come from West Side Church and other congregations and groups in the Mid-Columbia. They glean from early summer into the fall, picking everything from cherries to sweet corn, said Luke Hallowell, gleaning coordinator.
About 30 volunteers filled 10 bins with thousands of pounds of golden delicious apples Saturday. They laughed and teased each other as they worked.
They said it feels good to know what they pick will help people in need.
All Fields of Grace volunteers go through training before they begin gleaning. The next training session is at 7 p.m. today at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 2004 Road 24, Pasco.
-- On the net: www.fields-of-grace.com
-- Sara Schilling: 582-1402; sschilling@tricityherald.com
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