Programs

Our Programs

Gleaning

Kitsap Harvest’s main program is gleaning. Our Glean Teams harvests from both farms and backyard gardens and fruit trees. We then share the harvest with local food banks, shelters, soup kitchens and senior centers in need. Volunteers are also able to take a portion of the bounty home as a thank you for all their hard work!

Volunteer with us

Grow-A-Row

For your family. For your neighbor. For your community.

The Grow-A-Row program provides locally grown, fresh and nutritious produce for Kitsap Harvest by invigorating home gardeners to grow and donate their excess produce. Throughout Kitsap County, we have volunteers hosting donation stations including sites at Bremerton Community Farmers Market, Port Orchard Farmers Market and Kitsap Community Food Co-op. Gardeners are encouraged to bring their produce donations to the drop off site nearest them, volunteers will come and collect, and local produce will be distributed to community members in need.

Join us in our effort to combat food insecurity and food waste by growing some food, growing your gardening skills, and helping to grow Kitsap County’s capacity for sustainable community driven care.

Volunteer with us

Check the map below to see the donation station closest to you!

Produce Donation Food Safety

Best practices to keep in mind when donating your garden goodies:

  • Wash your hands before and after handling produce
  • Rinse produce with clean, potable water. You do not need to use soap or sanitizer, but with larger items like melons you can use a vegetable scrub brush to remove any dirt.
  • Do not make additional cuts to the produce beyond the one to remove it from the garden.
  • Keep produce cool until transporting.
Read more about food safety

No Green Thumb?

Here are some other ways you can get involved:

  • Become a Neighborhood Captain! Captains are community members that host a donation station and encourage their neighbors to participate.
  • Collect donations! Help us pick up donations and bring them to our distribution/aggregation hub.
  • Help sort and pack the boxes of food we deliver directly to those who need it.
  • Be a delivery driver! Deliver food to the sites we serve!

To sign up, click the button below to find out more about volunteering or email info@kitsapharvest.org for more details.

Volunteer with us

Team Building

Kitsap Harvest works with local organizations and businesses to provide opportunities to get outside and do team building activities, all centered around outdoor food and education.

Interested? Reach out to us at info@kitsapharvest.org to learn more for your next event.

Distribution

Foodbanks are a staple for food access in our communities, but what if getting to the food bank is a challenge? Can you imagine how often you’d need to go to resupply perishable food? If you are elderly, work weird hours, or coordinating family needs, this hardship may be even harder. Kitsap Harvest looks to meet people where they are at….It is through the donations we receive in our county that we are able to help provide fresh food access directly to communities in need such as our seniors, youth, low-income families and more. 
 
We have dedicated sorting and distribution days. The sites we visit are for mass distribution such as Senior /Low Income housing, Boys and Girls Clubs, Health Clinics, and partner programs looking to assist other people in similar situations, broadening the food security net. We practice low barrier food access with no requirement to “sign-up” to receive food. Often food is displayed in a farmers market fashion allowing people to choose items they wish to eat.  Currently we distribute to 20 sites bi-weekly regularly, serving approximately 1500 people with direct food access. 

Community Gardens

Howe Farm Garden

Located off SE Mile Hill Drive in Port Orchard. Dan Larson, Program Specialist for Alternatives to Detention, uses the space as a meditative grounding experience for at-risk-youth through the Kitsap County Juvenile Court. Youth are brought out for the garden experience but it takes dedicated volunteers to help maintain that opportunity. This garden is a low maintenance-high reward space consisting of a drip line and a special weed barrier that has greatly reduced the day to day maintenance.

Contact our Grow-A-Row Coordinator if you have questions or would like to help support this garden.

Brownsville United Methodist Church

The garden started in 2012 with four raised beds donated by Central Kitsap Food Bank. The garden was used as a children’s educational garden first with the kids in the congregation, then expanded a year later to include students from Brownsville Elementary School across the street. Since then they’ve added several more beds with 165 square feet of planting space. Due to the pandemic, teaching at the garden had to be suspended, however they were able to use the space in the meantime to grow food for Kitsap Harvest. Contact Victoria Poage if you have questions or would like to volunteer and help out in their garden.

Victoria Poage
Email: brumcoffice@gmail.com
Phone: 360.692.8266