Linda has been an excellent volunteer gleaner! Along with all other great volunteer gleaners, Linda has helped us in a pinch, filling in at the last-minute to glean at grocery stores and farmers’ markets. Also, Linda has been to many outreach events, promoting the GleanKY mission, including at this year’s Burgers and Beats fundraiser. Here is Linda’s story on how she came to get involved with GleanKY and why gleaning is so important to her.
“I learned about GleanKY through Seedleaf (a partner organization that “exists to nourish communities by growing, cooking, sharing and recycling food.”) Last summer I volunteered in the garden with Ryan of Seedleaf. It was very rewarding to see such young kids interested in learning how to grow their own food. I read about GleanKY on the internet and loved the concept of being that bridge to get real food to places where it could be used instead of landing in a landfill. I attended an orientation and was hooked.
My grandparents always lived nearby us, so my sister and I spent our summers gardening and canning. When you grow up doing that, real food is just a part of life. Giving my time to see that others have that too is a blessing to me. I’m a total foodie, always in the garden or the kitchen. I just love the fact that Lexington has so many wonderful charities that are willing to cook and or distribute this generously donated food. Transporting the food from the markets to them is the least I can do.
I’m so passionate about eating clean for good health and I feel that is a basic human right for everyone. I play a very small role in this but the rewards for me are tremendous. I’ve met so many beautiful people through GleanKY.”