A Successful Citrus Harvest!

Overcoming tremendous hurdles of a national pandemic, the first annual citrus harvest was a SUCCESS!

13 people formed the harvest committee to coordinate, plan, and organize a citrus harvest to help VVL residents to pick their citrus.

So many benefits to this!

* It helped residents who couldn’t pick the trees on their own.

* It helped to stock food banks and orphanages.

* And it got rid of a food source for rats!

In March 2020, a large number of community members supported the harvest thru word of mouth advertising, finding volunteers, donating supplies, and handing out fliers door to door.

12 homeowners picked their own trees and donated their fruit. 21 volunteers picked citrus trees for neighbors who couldn’t on their own. 27 trees picked, over 40 boxes filled with oranges, tangelos, grapefruit and lemons. Almost 2 tons of citrus was donated to the community. Volunteers found recipients and delivered the citrus to two foster families, an orphanage and St Mary’s food bank.

Because the harvest was during the beginning of a global pandemic, volunteers worked in small teams of 3-5 people. Everyone wore medical face masks, goggles, gloves and long sleeve shirts while harvesting citrus.

This was a COMMUNITY effort. This is living in Val Vista Lakes. Be proud good neighbors! We did this together.