Gleaning Project.
Get Involved!
There are several ways to support the Revelstoke Bear Aware Gleaning Project and help reduce wildlife attractants in our community.
Volunteer as a Gleaner
Join our volunteer team and help harvest fruit from local trees. Gleaning is a fun way to meet people, spend time outdoors, and support local food security while helping reduce attractants for bears and other wildlife.
Volunteer Your Tree
Do you have a fruit tree that produces more fruit than you can use? Register your tree through our Gleaning Request Form. Our volunteers can help harvest fruit before it falls to the ground and attracts wildlife. Harvested fruit may be shared with homeowners, volunteers, local food security programs, and community organizations.
Donate Fruit
If you’ve already harvested your fruit but have more than you can use, consider donating it. Fruit donations help support local food access initiatives and reduce waste.
Learn About Fruit Tree Care
Proper pruning, maintenance, and harvesting can improve tree health and help reduce wildlife conflicts. We are happy to connect you with information and resources to help manage your fruit trees.
Partner With Us
Community groups, businesses, schools, and organizations are invited to partner with us through volunteer days, fruit collection events, sponsorship opportunities, and educational initiatives.
Together, we can reduce attractants, support local food security, and help keep wildlife wild.
The Gleaning Project.
Our gleaning team takes care of the fruit harvest in Revelstoke for those that are not able. Fruit is a major bear attractant, so by making sure our communities’ fruit trees stay gleaned, we make sure the bears aren’t drawn to the area for easy pickings.
Request Gleaning Services
Have a fruit tree that needs harvesting? Complete the form below and a Revelstoke Bear Aware volunteer will contact you about your request.
THE GLEANING PROJECT
Volunteer with the Gleaning Project team.
Our coordinator, our tree scouts, and homeowners decide together the best time to schedule a harvest party. Volunteers arrive to pick the fruit at a pre-arranged time. Harvested fruit is shared among homeowners, volunteers, and community agencies, such as the Community Connections Food Bank and the Food Recovery Program.
The Gleaning Project helps to reduce bear attractants by gathering fruits and vegetables from our community. Residents with excess fruit can contact Revelstoke Bear Aware to arrange for volunteers to harvest the fruit. The volunteers receive some of the fruit, and the remaining fruit is donated to Community Connections Food Bank or is preserved by the North Columbia Environmental Society’s Canning Project before donation to the Food Bank.
Sign up by filling out the form or emailing gleaning@revelstokebearaware.org
Volunteer
Sign up to be on the Gleaning Project email list
The Gleaning Project works!
In 2024, Community Connections Food Bank was pleased to receive over 1100 pounds of cherries, plums and apples from The Gleaning Project. Community Connections Food Bank also saw an increase in the amount of fruit that was being donated, outside of The Gleaning Project.
You, too, can donate your surplus fruit. Take your fruit to these locations but phone first to arrange a drop-off time:
Community Connections – 1-250-837-2920
Use your own social media account or the Revelstoke Fruit Share Facebook community to let others know that you have picked fruit to give away. If your fruit is in poor condition, take it to the landfill or bag it for collection on your garbage day. Community Connections also takes non-edible fruit for donation to local pig farmers.
Gleaning Volunteer Etiquette and FAQ:
Be on time.
We do not want people showing up randomly to someone’s home. And it’s so much nicer to work on the fruit together!
Bring All Necessary Equipment.
What to bring to a pick:
- 1 ladder per volunteer
- If you don’t bring a ladder, you can be ground crew, to pass buckets and tools and pick up fallen fruit
- Pails/boxes for the fruit you would like to take home
- Gloves if you like ’em
- Appropriate footwear (no sandals on ladders, please!)
- Bring your friends/family/kids! The more the merrier. Your kids will need your supervision due to the ladder work. Please leave your furry family at home.
What we provide:
- Pails/boxes for the compost and the fruit to donate to the food bank
- Rake for clean up
- 2 fruit picking poles for the group
- 2 orchard ladders for the group
When on Site:
- Ensure the fruit is harvested and shared safely and respectfully.
- Always be respectful of the fruit owner’s property and the instructions they provide for the harvest.
- Clean up!
- Non-edible fruit gets donated to local pig farmers or composted.
- Leave the site as neat or neater than before you arrived.
Safety first
We are extremely proud of our volunteers and the care and respect they show fruit owners’ property and fruit. We also care about them a great deal and instruct them to be safe and avoid taking unnecessary risks. Please understand that sometimes, this means that parts of a fruit tree may not be able to be picked (e.g. if the fruit hangs over a delicate structure or the fruit is higher than can be safely reached with a ladder, etc.). Pruning your tree is very helpful for our volunteers.
Please be sure your pets are indoors while your fruit is being picked.
Every effort makes a big difference in our community
Whether you volunteer, become a member or make a financial donation, your efforts are appreciated and make a big difference locally. Thank you.
Take action
Donate
Every dollar makes a big difference! Thanks for helping us keep our bears wild and our community safe!
Take action
Become a member
When you become a member, you are supporting our efforts to keep bears wild and humans safe.
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More to discover:
Be bear aware
Living in bear country
Discover how to keep our community safe and Revelstoke’s bears wild.
Discover
Resources
Learn, play and educate with our collection of bear aware resources.
SIGHTINGS
Reporting a bear
Find out who to inform and what information to share when you spot a bear.
