FruitGuys Clients Help Project Open Hand Feed Sick Californians
- By Lex Flamm
- Reading Time: 3 mins.
Businesses ordering fresh produce and snacks from The FruitGuys can choose to have their food delivered or to “fruit it forward” to a local hunger relief organization. At Project Open Hand—which provides fresh produce and medically tailored meals to sick, elderly, and homebound people in California—those donations can be life-changing, especially around the holidays.
“[Last holiday season], we received an incredible amount and selection of fresh fruit from The FruitGuys, so we were actually able to meet the number of boxes that had to be delivered to homebound clients,” said Diana Contreras, Project Open Hand’s director of volunteer and grocery operations. “Otherwise, we would not have had enough food to put into those boxes for them—we wouldn’t have been able to secure it in time.”
How Project Open Hand Helps Californians
In Oakland, California, Project Open Hand runs a free grocery store for chronically ill and elderly residents. Clients can walk in, grab a cart, and shop for fresh fruits, vegetables, and more from a list that dietitians put together just for them.
“All of our clients get access to a weekly menu, and they can select the items based on their preference within those categories,” Contreras told The FruitGuys.
The nonprofit offers a similar service in San Francisco.
“Our different grocery centers are set up according to the way people like to shop. In the Oakland grocery center [where many diabetic clients shop], individuals can pick up their own produce, touch it, see it, and smell it. In San Francisco [where clients are more likely to be elderly or battling AIDs], we have a counter, and volunteers are the ones gathering grocery items for our clients after they select them,” Contreras said.
In 2024 alone, The FruitGuys’ kind and generous clients donated 5,083 pounds of fresh produce to Project Open Hand.
Fresh Fruit Donations Bring Joy and Better Health
Fresh fruit has the power to both improve people’s health and make them smile. Contreras said that when San Franciscans get their grocery bags, they peek inside to look for their favorite items.
“People love the green apples because we don’t often get those from our other community partner that donates. And the pears! People get super excited about those,” Contreras said.
Between its grocery and medically tailored meal pickup service, deliveries in its mobile grocery vans, and its hot meal program for elderly and disabled adults, Project Open Hand goes through a lot of fresh produce.
“Last month, we delivered over 6,000 grocery bags, relying heavily on community partners like The FruitGuys to secure this fresh produce,” Contreras said. “Fruit donation is a huge component of these boxes and these bags we’re putting together for our clients, truly adding that nutritional option that they need.”
Snack Donations Feed Fresh Produce Food Bank Volunteers
Fresh fruit and vegetables are vital for Project Open Hand’s programs, but snack boxes forwarded by The FruitGuys’ clients are also a hit.
“There are times we do receive snack packs from The FruitGuys, and we’re able to distribute those to the volunteers making all this work possible. Without thousands of volunteers engaging on a weekly basis, we truly would not be able to serve these clients. Just having that snack as a small token of appreciation makes a huge difference as well for their efforts,” Contreras said.
How You Can Help Support Project Open Hand
We’re proud of our clients for giving to Project Open Hand and other fresh produce food banks around the country. If you’d like to pitch in, you can “fruit it forward” and donate your box through our Donate-a-Crate Program. You can also consider volunteering or donating monetarily to Project Open Hand. Like many nonprofits, it receives federal funding that’s currently on hold.
