Gallery • 16 Photos

Dafany Miranda-Zepeda

SORT OUT: Canes gathered in Delray Beach to harvest peppers for a food recovery program organized by Cros Ministries.

The National Honor Society started their year with two gleaning events which is the act of collecting the surplus amount of fresh products. The events are coordinated by Cros Ministries, a nonprofit organization serving the people in Palm Beach and  Martin County through food pantries, gleaning, caring kitchens, and summer camp programs for low-income families.

The gleaning program has been active for 15 years and takes place every six days a week. 

Braving the cold

During the tomato gleaning event, Robynne Ryals, assistant director of the gleaning program, said their goal is “to collect more food than last year.” 

The tomatoes students collected would go to Feeding South Florida. Ryals said, “They will be sent out to over 200 different food pantries and go out to over 100,000 different families,” 

“We can not do what we do without these volunteers, these volunteers bridge the gap between Cros, the food pantries, and the community,” said Ryals. 

Elisa Espinoza, data processor at Plumosa School of the Arts said, “It is bringing back memories of when I used to be a migrant worker. Tomatoes were the first works I did and I started at 7 years old.”  

Ms. Reyes, math educator and NHS Co-Sponsor said, “It is actually amazing to be able to help other people because these tomatoes will be given out to food banks.”

Forty-three Canes came to serve the community, “who woke up early and braved the cold temp,” said Ms. Reyes. 

“I guess I’ve always been a person that always wanted to help out those who are less advantaged than me,” said Briana Blanc, a 10th grader in the Medical Academy. “It’s really good because it is helping people out.” 

Clarens Camy, a 10th grader in the Pre-Architecture and Engineering, said “At first I thought it was pretty fun to come here then I saw that we are picking stuff for other people which is why I was looking at the tomatoes so intently.”  

Harvest with care

In the pepper gleaning, students were told to pick both green and red peppers as long as they fill their buckets.

“There wasn’t as many peppers as there were tomatoes. They also came in a variety of shapes and sizes,” said Viviane Dimanche, a 11th grader in the Medical Academy and fundraiser officer. “I felt calm and at peace. It felt nice being outside and getting some exercise.”

Jaden Alexander, a 11th grader in Pre-Architecture and Engineering said, “It was a very fun experience getting to see the process in which the workers go through on a daily basis was an eye-opener.”