At the end of May, our partner Village Harvest, a nonprofit volunteer organization that harvests fruit from backyards and small orchards to feed those in need, informed us there was a commercial orchard just one mile away from our Cypress Center in North San Jose that needed gleaning.
The beautiful oranges, after being picked
Second Harvest was really excited to hear this news as our team is always looking for fresh and healthy food for our clients.
After four harvests, it resulted in over 87,000 pounds of beautiful oranges, now ready to be distributed to our community!
Huge THANKS to Bob Moitozo, the owner of the fabulous 102 year old orchard, for sharing his fruits and making a meaningful difference for the one in 10 people in our community who need healthy food.
We’d also like to thank Craig Diserens, Village Harvest Executive Director, Susan Osofsky, and all Village Harvest volunteers.
From left to right: Susan Osofsky, Village Harvest; Craig Diserens, Village Harvest and Bob Moitozo, Owner of the orchard
Village Harvest volunteers in action
“It was a pretty incredible operation and exciting to see in action,” said Alisha Keezer-Lewis, Second Harvest Senior Manager of Food Sourcing. “Bob Moitozo, the owner, was there helping with the tractor bringing the bins for the volunteers to fill and taking the full ones back to his shed. I couldn’t help but grab a bucket and start picking the oranges myself – there were so many just hanging there, wanting to be picked!”
Alisha Keezer-Lewis, Second Harvest Senior Manager of Food Sourcing and Craig Diserens, Village Harvest Executive Director
Bob Moitozo, working relentlessly to feed our community with healthy produce