Ripe for the harvest

By 7 a.m. April 9, Alabama Baptist volunteers were prepared to sort and bag 44,000 pounds of Louisiana sweet potatoes. But these potatoes weren’t found in a garden, they were piled in the parking lot of Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Birmingham.
   
A total of 126 volunteers from various churches and denominations bagged the potatoes and loaded them onto trucks and trailers to be distributed among 38 agencies. The Student Ministries Choir from Samford University in Birmingham kept the mood and tempo upbeat, singing while they sorted.
   
By 8:30 a.m., the first trucks and vans were loaded and left to begin distributing the 10- to 20-pound bags. And by 10 a.m., the 22-ton pile was reduced to smashed remains slowly heating on the asphalt in the spring sun.
   
Such was the scene of the most recent potato drop sponsored by the Society of St. Andrew, a national ministry that partners with farmers and volunteers to fight hunger in the United States. The drop was part of the society’s Potato Project, which organizes volunteers to sort through tractor-trailer loads of surplus fresh produce donated by farmers.
   
This way, the society is able to provide fresh vegetables and fruit to those who might otherwise never have access to such fresh food.
   
“Twenty percent of our children in the state live in poverty and need,” said Rachel Gonia, regional director of the society’s Alabama office. “Ninety-six billion pounds of food goes to waste every year. That’s 20 percent of all that is grown in the United States.
   
“It seems a sin to let food go to waste when people are so hungry.”
   
Gonia said those on a low income save money by skimping on food, especially by not buying produce because of the expense.
   
But because of volunteers being willing to sort through donated surplus or glean fields and orchards, Alabama’s hungry received 385,000 pounds of food last year.
   
“We couldn’t do what we do without volunteers,” Gonia said. They come from an eclectic mix of backgrounds, from churches to civic groups and businesses to individuals. Many are adults but the society encourages families to come as well. “I’ve seen many 2-year-olds, that if someone is holding the bag for them, they can easily glean blueberries,” Gonia said.
   
She said although the society was founded by Methodists, it does not align with any one denomination, partnering with 26 different denominations nationwide.
   
While some volunteers came to the recent potato drop to sort and load the produce, others also helped with the distribution, ready to share potatoes and share God with people “ripe unto the harvest” — such as described by Jesus in John 4:35. 
   
One willing group was composed of members from Cedar Grove Baptist Church in Leeds. Dawn Ellard, director of the church’s food and clothing ministry — the Shepherd’s Supply Ministry — led the group to the drop at Aldersgate.
   
“We’re so blessed that they called us,” Ellard said. “We’ve got grace from the Lord, so we’re giving out some love.”
   
Instead of holding the bagged potatoes for the food pantry, the church sponsored a free potato pickup for the community. “I’ve never seen this many potatoes at one time,” said Cedar Grove member Britt Spears. And sorting through the pile might have been harder without the college students’ singing. “It was worth the trip just to hear them sing,” Spears said.
   
It was an experience for the students, too, said Stephanie Wilson of Florence. Wilson, a Samford student who attends Gardendale’s First Baptist Church, coordinated the choir’s involvement in the missions project.
   
“We usually like to do something that benefits the community,” she said. “This let us give back within our immediate area.”
   
The choir sorted, sang and bagged potatoes, then helped with the distribution, handing out the potatoes at Princeton Towers in Birmingham. “It’s been awesome, getting in there and singing for Jesus while playing with potatoes,” Wilson continued. “It’s going to be a while before I look at potatoes the same again.”
   
Laura Guffin, program coordinator for the Alabama office, said the society has events scheduled statewide, from Anniston down to Mobile. More potato drops are scheduled through June, and opportunities to glean and sort crops such as blueberries, apples and other fruits and vegetables are upcoming. 
   
Those interested in volunteering as well as farmers who are interested in opening their culled produce to gleaning can contact Guffin.
   
Education is key in combating hunger, Guffin said. “I believe the people in Alabama, once they know how many people in the state go without food, they’ll be inclined to do something about it.”