Senior Gleaners

Senior Gleaners, Inc. is a VOLUNTEER, nonprofit organization, dedicated to helping feed the hungry in 8 counties throughout Northeastern California

Senior Gleaners was founded on June 24, 1976. Thirty retired seniors gathered to glean surplus fruits and vegetables from farmers 'fields and orchards for their own use. The surplus were donated to a local soup kitchen. Using a private garage, food storage requirements of the organization were met by utilizing refrigerators. Over the years, as the amount of food substantially increased, we moved several times and continually upgraded our storage facilities with walk-in freezers and coolers.

Our organizational structure began with the founder who appointed several assistants to help distribute the food. As we developed people in the community offered volunteer and organizational assistance. We contacted food retailers and distributors and asked for their expired shelf-life food products and asked the farmers for their leftover produce after harvest. Most began to donate on a regular basis. The food was then sorted and channeled through our network of charitable organizations for distribution to feed the needy.