The FruitGuys

GoodWorks

Engaging in projects that support people and good health from the field to the table

DONATIONS
Weekly Fruit Donations to Food Banks
Your business allows us to donate more than 300,000 pounds of fruit annually to food banks. After we fill your order each week, we donate any leftover fruit to food banks in San Francisco, Philadelphia and Chicago including:

• St. Anthony’s Foundation in San Francisco, CA
• Philabundance in Philadelphia, PA
• Greater Chicago Food Depository in Chicago, IL

Here is a video of a Get Fresh! Cooking Class at MANNA PA that we sponsored.

Read these stories on our donations program:
FruitGuys Donations are Backbone of Some Food Pantries
South Philly Refugee Service Lends a Hand
St. Anthony's Provides More than A Meal

Donate-A-Crate
Instead of canceling your office or home delivery during holidays, you can donate your fruit to a charitable organization. The first year we ran the program, our customers donated 69 crates. In 2010, our customers nearly tripled this amount and donated over 200 crates of fruit! Last holiday season, customers continued to support the Donate-A-Crate program by donating 232 crates, over 8000 pieces of fruit to 22 organizations nationwide. Learn more about our Donate-A-Crate program.

Donate-A-Crate 2011 Fed Thousands

Connect with your Community
Do you have a school, individual or an organization you would like to donate fruit to on a regular basis? We can subsidize the cost of The FruitGuys product you would like to order and set up a reccurring delivery for you. Simply let us know where and when and we’ll take care of the rest. For more information, contact nicole@fruitguys.com. 

THE FRUITGUYS COMMUNITY FUND
In 2012, we launched The FruitGuys Community Fund, a nonprofit fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives. This fund supports small independent American Farms and sustainable agriculture.

FARM STEWARD
The FruitGuys Farm Steward mission is to promote sustainable farming practices that have no negative impact on the environment and add long-term social and economic value to the farm and farming community. We aim to support projects nationwide. Take a look at some examples of Farm Steward projects:

• July 2011 The FruitGuys financed a $3,000 no-interest loan to one of our farms, Baia Nicchia in Sunol, CA. More on microloans to family farms here.
• May 2011 We volunteered to plant heirloom tomato seedlings. Our spring planting at Baia Nicchia Farm here.
• March 2011 A contingent from The FruitGuys set out to plant and mulch flowering shrubs and trees to provide year round habitat and pollen for pollinators.
• October 2010 We sponsored the planting of twenty raspberry bushes and edible trees and shrubs, including hazelnuts, elderberries, blackberries, heavenly bamboo, and a rose bush that produces edible rose hips at Walnut Hill Community Farm in partnership with the Philadelphia Orchard Project in Philadelphia, PA. Read more on how we teamed up to green urban West Philadelphia.
• April 2010 We helped fund an Herb Garden at Blue Moon Organics in Aptos, CA.
• March 2010 Owl Boxes at E & M Farm in Vernalis, CA and Kauffman’s Fruit Farm in Bird-in-Hand, PA. Links to video and details of the owl boxes we donated and installed here.
• February 2009 Grafting and planting Asian pear trees at Gabriel Farm in Sebastopol, CA. Pictures and details of our tree planting field trip here.
• October 2008 Bat box at Jelich Ranch in Portola Valley, CA. Read about the benefits of bat boxes here.
• April 2008 Four Honey Bee Hives (48,000 bees!!) at Gabriel Farm in Sebastopol, CA. The best way to set up a honeybee hive here.

COMMUNITIES
We work with local organizations in our home cities that increase access to fresh fruit and vegetables and encourage urban youth entrepreneurial activity.  

Current Projects:

Somethin’ Fresh, a project of Girls 2000 within Bay View Hunter’s Point in San Francisco, CA.

Philadelphia Orchard Project at the Walnut Hill Community Farm in Philadelphia, PA.

PARTNERSHIPS
We work hand in hand with companies and organizations that support healthy and happy communities, by improving access to fresh fruit and vegetables and promoting environmental stewardship. Some of our partners:

• ShapeUp San Francisco and DCYF
• Girls 2000
• The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA)
• Philly Rooted
• Philabundance
• Grower’s Collaborative
• Stop the Spray
• The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia
• The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
• Hanson Bridgett
• VMWare
• Live Healthy America
• Club One

RECYCLING & RE-USE
Our patented box design is 100% recyclable and compostable. They are also re-usable! The large crates are made to fit standard size file folders. They are also excellent for storing decorations and household items. The trays are handy for carrying office supplies or lunches from one area to another. Clients and employees have used the fruitcases for mobile wine cases; doll cases; and even a bicycle rack. Clients can call to see if our box pick-up program is available from their courier. Gently used boxes are brought back to the regional warehouse and re-used up to three times. 

JOIN US
The FruitGuys are proud to have such supportive customers (that’s you!) who help us give back to the growers and the communities we rely on.
Here’s how you can participate:

• Fund a Farm Steward or youth entrepreneurial project in your region. Contact kim.jordan@fruitguys.com to get involved.
• Donate produce to an individual, school, or organization. Email nicole@fruitguys.com for more information.
• Become a FruitGuard at your office and introduce colleagues to our TakeHome program.
• Share your innovative ideas to grow health and happiness in your community with us on Facebook and Twitter!
• Get on our monthly newsletter mailing list to hear about projects.

We are committed to making valuable long-term investments at the farm and community level. When you sign up for FruitGuys service you are not only receiving delicious produce, you are also helping us attain our sustainability goals.