In this weather, picking fruit is a chore reserved only for the truly dedicated.

For the past five years, Seattle social services agency Solid Ground has been running the Community Fruit Tree Harvest, a program that gathers unused fruit from residential trees and donates the bounty to those in need. According to CFTH coordinator Sadie Beauregard, the program spawned from another Solid Ground Program, Lettuce Link, which performs a similar service with fresh greens. What started as a hyperlocal charity in Wallingford now has over 80 volunteer harvesters that reach all around Seattle, including Queen Anne, South East Seattle, Central District, and here in Capitol Hill.

Beauregard explained the process like a delivery service: Homeowners that signed up as donors give CFTH a call when their fruit tree is ripe and volunteers in the area pick the fruit, then donate it to food banks and other community organizations (see below). According to their website, CFTH harvested over 10,000 pounds of fruit in 2007, and Beauregard said Capitol Hill alone provided 400 pounds of fruit last year.

The season has just begun, and will span through October. Beauregard said they can always use more donors and volunteers to do anything from picking fruit, to “scouting” for more trees, or even just providing storage space for ladders, buckets or harvested fruit. 

Here’s a list of Seattle organizations the volunteers often donate to:

1811 Eastlake (meal program for residents) – 1811 Eastlake Ave

CAMP Food Bank (food bank) – 722 18th Ave

Chicken Soup Brigade Lifelong AIDS Alliance – 1002 E Seneca St

Evans House (meal program for residents) – 415 10th Ave

Food Bank at St Mary’s – 611 20th Ave S

Jefferson Terrace (low income apartments) – 800 Jefferson St

Kerner-Scott House (meal program for residents) – 510 Minor Ave N

Harvard Court (low income apartments) – 610 Harvard Ave E

Jewish Family Service (food bank) – 1601 16th Ave

Olive Ridge (low income apartments) – 1700 17th Ave

Seattle Indian Center (food bank and meal program) – International District

You can find more information about Solid Ground and the Community Fruit Tree Harvest from their website.