The couple worked with a local grower to sell the apples. The grower was losing money, and so were we. The Browns were in a near panic when the apple blossoms began to appear last spring. That's when they got a call from the Society of St. Andrew in Big Island, Va., which is famous for its national hunger relief work. The society salvages fresh food that would otherwise be wasted and delivers it to food banks, soup kitchens and shelters.
Volunteers go into farm fields and orchards and glean what's left after harvest.
In its 20 years of existence, the society has gleaned more than 255 million pounds of food, which provided more than 765 million servings to hungry people. Mike Waldmann, director of operations for the society, learned of the Browns' predicament and contacted them. We offered the entire crop to the Society of St. Andrew to feed the hungry. So every week from August to late October, volunteers from churches, ministries and even a local Cub Scout pack converged on the Browns' orchard. In all they harvested 74,185 pounds of Golden Delicious, Red Delicious and Paula Red apples.