Glean for DCCK!

We need your help picking fruits and vegetables! To ensure that our clients get nutritious food, DCCK is cooking with fresh, local produce more than ever before.

With this new volunteer opportunity, groups can glean – or pick surplus crops – for us at farms in the DC Metropolitan Area. DCCK gets to keep the produce, which can include corn, broccoli, greens, zucchini, squash and more. We then use this food in the 4,500 meals that we make each day for homeless and low-income residents of the DC area.

Help us promote the benefits of eating healthy and eating local! And while you’re at it, learn first-hand about how fresh produce is grown and harvested.

Program Details

Gleaning trips are held on Thursday mornings from early June to late November. Farms are normally within one hour of downtown DC. Volunteers must have their own transportation and will meet at the designated farm at 9 a.m. Groups will spend about two hours picking crops and helping to load them onto DCCK trucks.

A DCCK employee and a field supervisor from the Mid-Atlantic Gleaning Network will meet volunteers at the farm. We will give an orientation about the Kitchen so that volunteers can learn about who will benefit from the food that they will pick. Then, we’ll get to work!

Volunteer groups should have at least four people and must have their own transportation. Children, supervised by a parent or guardian, are encouraged to participate.

Please wear comfortable shoes and clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty, and please bring water bottles and sun block.

How to Sign Up

Please contact Jamie Schuman (jschuman@dccentralkitchen.org 202-234-0707, Ext. 145) to schedule a trip and to learn about specific location options. We look forward to working in the fields with you!