Reported by Julie Lu
On July 30th, 2022, Greater Temecula Valley AYLUS (GTVA) team Ally Negulescu (5 hrs), Adora Xiao (4 hrs), Julie Lu (4.5 hrs), and Jessica Lu (4.5 hrs) volunteered at their local farm to help harvest and package produce. All of the produce grown from this project is donated directly to the Temecula Community Mission of Hope for distribution to other local food pantries in our region and Fallbrook.
The members of GTVA started off in the zucchini field, collecting the matured vegetables. Compared to before, the harvest had slowed down, so the members were quickly moved to the cantaloupe fields. There, under the guidance of a staff member, they were instructed on how to choose the cantaloupes that were ripe for picking by their color, and how to tell a rotten cantaloupe from a fresh one by its smell. On their way back to the packaging station, they helped load watermelons onto a vehicle to be transported. One of the members, Ally, even snuck a ride back to the station.
Check This Out, how wonderful the boxes designed are so appealing to the eyes and at the packaging station where the members got to carefully select fresh produce to pack in boxes. After finishing up their tasks, the members stayed for the barbeque prepared by the staff. The members had a great opportunity to learn more about packaging services, as they got to handle and package different kinds of harvested produce.
