GOOD Attacks! Hunger with 13,484 Pounds of Fruit

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWgwG7U4ues

Last Sunday we pulled off our latest GOOD Attacks! event, teaming up with Los Angeles-based nonprofit Food Forward to pick surplus fruit from the orange groves at California State University at Northridge.

Food Forward was founded by Rick Nahmais, a Los Angeles-based writer, photographer, and filmmaker, who noticed that his neighborhood had several local gardens from which the produce wasn't being harvested. Nahmais reasoned that thousands of pounds of good food must be going to waste in the city every year. His solution was to match volunteer fruit-pickers with land owners who had productive trees and gardens, then distribute the food to hungry Angelenos. Today, Food Forward provides nutritious fruit and vegetables for thousands of people, including many children.

So Food Forward's fruit picks are valuable, but they're also a blast. Sunday's event included a DJ, food trucks, and more than 100 enthusiastic volunteers. We collected 13,484 lbs of fruit, all of which went to local food pantries in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Max Kanter, Food Forward's volunteer coordinator, says the pick's proceeds will feed thousands of families in the area. The event didn't solve Los Angeles' food insecurity problem, but it helped. And it wasn't a bad way to spend a Sunday, either.

Stay tuned for more fun and productive things to do with GOOD Attacks!