The Potato Project was established in 1983 to decrease the amount of waste that occurs at packing houses, where after harvest, produce undergoes another “grade out” process before it is packaged for final shipping. At these packing houses, millions of pounds of produce are discarded as not meeting top market grade. Once again, this produce is perfectly good to eat. This excess food is normally dumped in our nation’s landfills, when it could be used to feed the hungry instead. SoSA intercepts as much of this food as possible and ships truckloads of this edible, but rejected, produce to all 48 contiguous states. The produce is donated at no cost; however, SoSA must pay for the packing and freight cost associated with shipping the produce to feeding agencies across the country.
The Potato Project focuses on these important issues: hunger, hunger relief ,end hunger, hunger awareness, food for the hungry, feed people, glean, gleaning.
The Society of St. Andrew (SoSA) was founded in Big Island, VA in 1979 by two families, the Horne’s and the Buchanan’s, as an intentional community. With just a converted sheep shed as an office, SoSA began to educate others about food waste and the Biblical concept of gleaning. From these humble beginnings, SoSA has grown into one of the most effective and successful hunger ministries in the nation. The vision of the Society of St. Andrew is a world in which physical and spiritual hungers are met through God’s abundance. Our mission is to provide food for the body, God’s word for the spirit, community of love for the heart and opportunity for those who desire action. We accomplish our mission through three programs: The Potato Project, the Gleaning Network, and Harvest of Hope.
The mission of the Potato Project is to salvage excess produce that would go to waste otherwise, and use it instead to feed the hungry. The goal of the Potato Project year after year is to save as much fresh, nutritious produce as possible from ending up in landfills. Our objective is to feed as many people as we can with this salvaged produce. Another objective is to engage volunteers to participate in local “potato drops”. A potato drop is literally a tractor-trailer load of 42,000-45,000 pounds of potatoes that are dumped or “dropped” into a parking lot. Volunteers surround this huge pile of spuds and bag the potatoes for distribution. It is an educational and fun way to give back and to educate volunteers of all ages about hunger issues.
The Potato Project has been in existence since 1983. We are blessed to have an established track record of success through the years. Each year our goal is to increase the amount of food we salvage, which ultimately results in more servings of food for the hungry. The reality is some years we salvage more produce than others. With so many factors involved, such as the weather, gas prices , and changes in the market place, it is difficult to forecast from year to year how much food we will actually save. Another goal of the Potato Project is to deliver food to new feeding agencies in different areas of the country. We strive to develop new relationships with growers/donors as well.
Name of Organization:Society of St Andrew
Number of Paid Staff:24
Number of Volunteers:30000
Total Organizational Expenses:$2,807,214
% of Organizational Overhead Expenses:4%
The Society of St. Andrew is unique among hunger-relief organizations for many reasons. The produce we salvage and deliver to agencies serving the poor is “cosmetically challenged”, or is food that cannot be sold because of market forces. We reclaim this donated produce at the farm level and deliver it to agencies serving the poor, while keeping our operating costs to just pennies a serving. In addition, we supply fresh fruits and vegetables rather than high caloric “filler food” to those in need. This means we are helping to improve the health and well-being of our society’s most vulnerable. Unlike many organizations, we do not charge handling fees. We provide fresh, nutritious food to agencies serving the poor at no cost to them, which helps them stretch their already tight budgets. We also build community by bringing people together in farmers’ fields or around “dumped” loads of potatoes to work collectively in the cause of helping their needy neighbors. Lastly, we are helping meet environmental concerns because the food we salvage by tractor-trailer load does not end up in landfills, but instead goes to feed hungry American. We maintain an extremely low overhead – our administrative and fundraising costs are less that 10% - more than 90 cents of every dollar donated is used to provide nutritious food at just pennies a serving.
Following are just two stories from among the Society of St. Andrew’s tens of thousands of volunteers who glean fresh, leftover produce from farm fields and orchards and then give it to critical feeding agencies serving those who are hungry.
“We are thankful that farmers allow us to make use of their crops and serve a need by helping to feed the hungry. It's really hard to walk away from unpicked produce once you've gone to the fields because you know the crop will be destroyed if not picked. It's a great feeling to get the food from the vine to the needy and all it costs you is a little time. It's fulfilling to be a blessing to someone by finding a way to get the surplus food to people who need it.” Jenny Robe, FL
“At the soup kitchen where we took the food we gleaned, I observed a 2-year-old girl who was quiet and kind of in a daze. Her mother was trying to get her to eat something but she just wouldn’t. Her mother said, ‘You need to eat something so you won’t be hungry.’ Having my own 2-year-old at home made me realize how fortunate we are to have three meals a day, and how much this mother and daughter were in need. Tears came to my eyes as I witnessed this scene. Sometimes we give to hunger drives, and work in the fields, however, we never get an opportunity to see our contributions in action. I will never forget that little girl and her mother ... and the millions of little girls and their mothers who are out there and are hungry!” Robbie Spiers, Northern Neck, VA
Do not waste
Ending Hunger
Poverty
You can get involved by volunteering to glean fields or participating in one of our potato drops.
Name:Steven M. Waldmann
Title:Executive Director
Address:3383 Sweet Hollow Road Big Island, VA 24526 United States
Telephone:800-333-4597
Email:sosausa@endhunger.org
Website:endhunger.org