Volunteer Spotlight: Crooked Run Orchards

Glean for the City brings back TONS of fresh produce to our food pantries. No, really - TONS. For the NW and SE communities that Bread for the City serves, we are often the only source for fresh produce in the neighborhood. We can boast all day about the successes of Glean for the City. But without our partnering farmers, this project wouldn't exist.

Enter: Crooked Run Orchard.

Crooked Run Orchard is a small, family owned, eco-friendly farm in Purcellville Virginia and has played an integral part shaping Glean for the City. The Orchard provides a beautiful venue for gleanings, with rolling grassy hills and tranquil orchards. On top of donating over 10,000 lbs. of fresh, crisp apples so far this year, the farmers Sam Brown and Ute Ditbreener are mentors and educators for our gleaning coordinators and volunteers. Despite an seemingly unending work load, they are always happy to talk about food security and agriculture.

Although located 50 miles from DC, Sam and Ute didn’t hesitate to allow us onto their land for gleaning. They genuinely care about our clients' health and are grateful to us for giving them the opportunity to serve. As Ute remarked on our last outing, “Nutrition is essential for health and happiness, and you don’t have to be from DC to know there is a shortage of fresh produce. We’ve wanted gleaners for years; we were so thrilled when Bread for the City came to us.”


Sam Brown and Ute Ditbreener will be honored with our Fresh Food Partner award at our 5th Annual Good Hope Awards, coming up next Thursday morning, October 7 at the National Press Club. We look forward to this awards breakfast every year and the opportunity it gives us to thank all of our volunteers for their dedication and service.

-- Thanks to JW for his contributions to this post.