LAKE COUNTY — Clear Lake Gleaners distributes food to those in need every weekday morning from its Finley headquarters. The organization is also providing food weekly to Elijah House (formerly Hope Harbor) homeless shelter in Lakeport.
The Gleaners had a successful November and first week of December distributing food at various locations throughout Lake County. Food was distributed to nine outlying sites. The Finley site served 644 vehicles within a three-hour period during mid-November, each receiving a Thanksgiving turkey. Approximately 1,000 turkeys were provided by the Freedom Riders and other motorcycle groups during their motorcycle turkey run Nov. 14.
The Gleaners also purchased turkeys from local grocers and received a large donation of turkeys from a corporation in Southern California. Many of the Gleaners’ turkeys were purchased from local grocers.
Overall there were 1,700 bags of food distributed for a total of more than 5,000 people served in just one day (Nov. 14).
The Gleaners, a dedicated group of volunteers who have benefited from the help of such organizations as Future Farmers and AmeriCorp, are all required to wear face covers as well as gloves because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The drive-through method use to distribute its food has been well-received by the public given the coronavirus situation throughout the state.
Clear Lake Gleaners are directly under the auspices of the USDA/Social Services departments and receive funding to offset administrative expenses and to purchase commodities. However, because of increasing community need, they are finding it necessary to solicit funds toward the purchase of a warehouse, preferably one in the Finley area. Since federal and state law does not permit the purchase of real property, the Gleaners are asking for donations, which may be made in person at the Gleaners office, 1896 Big Valley Road in Finley, or mailed to P.O. Box 266, Finley, CA, 95435. Use can also call the Gleaners at 263-8082 or email clgleaners@hotmail.com for more information.
“While the Clear Lake Gleaners is a relatively small food bank compared to others throughout the state, we are strong and steadfast in providing food for the elderly, low income and homeless families of Lake County. Fortunately we’re are able to purchase food at relatively low cost from Redwood Empire Food Bank and receive large donations of food and miscellaneous items from Safeway and Brunos,”said Bev Westphal, the Clear Lake Gleaners president.
Westphal commended all the Gleaners volunteers for a job well done in spite of working around the COVID-19 pandemic.
