Epic Church picks, donates 3,000 pounds of produce

Palm Coast Observer
Neighbors

With the threat of rain lingering in the distance Saturday morning, more than 50 volunteers from Epic Church in Palm Coast, with trash bags hanging from each pocket, sloshed through the mud on a broccoli farm in Hastings.

The group, which was partnering with the Society of St. Andrews, gleaned the farm, filling those trash bags with 2,500 pounds of broccoli.

Another 30-odd volunteers gleaned two citrus groves the same morning, in Palatka, collecting about 1,224 pounds of fruit.

Gleaning is the traditional Biblical practice of gathering crops that would otherwise be left in the fields to rot, or be plowed under after harvest. The Society of St. Andrews is a grassroots, faith-based, hunger-relief nonprofit, which works to bridge the hunger gap between 96 billion pounds of food wasted every year in this country and the nearly 35 million Americans who live in poverty.

The produce picked by Epic Church volunteers was distributed to Grace Community Food Pantry, in Flagler County.