(WXYZ) — Forgotten Harvest delivers more than 100,000 pounds of food per day to local charities, but many people may not know they actually have their own farm.
At the Forgotten Harvest Farms in Fenton, they have over 100 acres and rely on volunteers to help harvest at least a million pounds of food per year.
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We caught up with Debra Maholmes at the farm where she was volunteering to help harvest zucchini. It was part of a global volunteer day for Debra and her coworkers at Midland Credit Management.
"Any time we can help make things better, life better," Maholmes said.
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"The biggest zucchinis I've ever seen in my life. Very hard work. Very fun," Shahad Antwan, another volunteer said.
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“Whenever I get a chance to do it, I always bring my grandchildren with me. This time I brought my daughter-in-law with me as well," Maholmes added.
The group of around 30 volunteers are a small part of the around 2,500 volunteers who work an average of about four hours each every year at the farm.
“That’s 10,000 hours that they provide so we couldn’t do it without them," Forgotten Harvest Farms Manager Mike Yancho said.
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A job that now provides most of the produce Forgotten Harvest gives out to people who need it.
“Fresh produce is becoming more scarce in the emergency food world. That's where we come in. We provide that food that otherwise wouldn't exist," Yancho added.
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The food goes the farm in Fenton to pantries and soup kitchens across the tri-county area.
“It’ll leave on the truck today and could potentially be on somebody’s plate tomorrow," Yancho said.
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It helps fight food insecurity, one farm shift at a time.
“I recommend everybody come here volunteer. You’ll feel great you’ll feel part of the earth, connected," Antwan added.