Parkland Gleaning Project

The goal of the Parkland Gleaning Project is to increase local access to fresh foods by planting and caring for fruit trees in city parks that community members can harvest from. This is an ongoing project that started as a collaboration between the Billings Parks and Recreation Department and the Billings Metro VISTA Project in 2018. Visit our webpage for more information about the history and overview of the Parkland Gleaning Project: https://www.billingsparks.org/parkland-gleaning/.

Volunteer opportunities include the following:

• Adopt a Park (long-term opportunity): Volunteer groups can sign up to adopt a park. This means that the volunteer group would visit the park that they sign on to adopt multiple times per growing season to check on the health status and fruiting status of the relevant trees. If health problems arise, volunteers can reach out to our city forester with updates. As trees are ready to harvest from, volunteers can contact the Community Outreach and Engagement Coordinator (COEC) at Parks and Recreation to schedule a gleaning session to harvest fruit and donate it to a local organization that serves food-insecure families. As the trees mature, groups should expect to participate in multiple harvests per season.

• Fruit Harvests (one-time, short-term opportunity): There will be opportunities each summer/fall for individuals and volunteers to participate in one-time harvests at some of the Parkland Gleaning Parks. Volunteers will rake up and dispose of fallen fruit under each tree, as well as harvest ripe fruit off of trees. The fruit will then be donated to organizations that serve food-insecure families in the area.