With Gratitude

Resident Donors

A number of residents give us a check or cash at the time of a glean or mail donations afterwards.

Volunteers and Family Members

Our volunteers not only dedicate their time and talent but are a main source of donations, along with their family members. Besides direct cash donations and bequests, they donate vehicles and conduct individual fund-raisers.

A grandmother with her daughter-in-law and her two grandchildren accompanied by a black dog — The Chen family exemplifies the generosity of our volunteers and family members. Nancy Chen, far right, gives hundreds of hours yearly as a crew leader and grocery hauler along with cash donations. Her son Mitch’s family makes generous donations regularly. (Photo by Mitch Chen)

Recent Grants

We appreciate the support of the organizations listed below who have helped fund our operations.

Las Patronas, founded in 1946, is committed to providing financial assistance to nonprofits in San Diego County that provide community services in the areas of health, education, social services and cultural arts. Senior Gleaners has received two grants from this philanthropic organization.

San Diego Awards $11,000 for Van

The City of San Diego awarded $11,000 to Senior Gleaners to help purchase a second van to help the North County region haul fruit and unsold groceries. The Community Projects, Programs & Services has continued its support with a $3500 award in 2025 towards fuel, maintenance and DMV charges for our two vans. Senior Gleaners learned about this source of funding when past Board President Margaret Burton and Vice President Daryush Bastani visited
with city council member Jennifer Campbell at a summer event.

It’s in the Bag! Jimbo’s Wooden Nickel Program rewards customers who reuse their bags. Jimbo’s shares the money saved on bag purchases with local charities–chosen each quarter. Jimbo’s has selected Senior Gleaners more than once and has donated gift cards for special events.

The Parker Foundation awarded the Senior Gleaners an $11,000 grant to build our capacity in both our Far North District and our South County District. This funding help for our outreach efforts is truly appreciated.

In the Far North communities of Fallbrook, Bonsall and Valley Center there are plentiful sources of produce to be gleaned, more than we have volunteers to handle all of it. In the South Bay, we need both fruit donors and more volunteers. It is a large geographic area that has experienced a lot of residential development that razed the orchards that used to thrive there. Despite these many changes, we know that there are still pockets of citrus that could help fill people instead of landfills.

Interested in volunteering or donating fruit? Visit our Donate page to learn how to donate your time or excess produce.

The Jewish Community Foundation generously granted to the Senior Gleaners $12,000 to defray the expenses for operating our two vans in 2025. The funds will be used for our annual insurance payments, DMV renewals, safety education for our volunteer van drivers and ongoing fuel costs. We are grateful for this support.

The San Diego County Employees’ Charitable Organization (CECO) has bestowed many annual grants over the years. Funded by employee donations, CECO has been lending a hand to the local community since 1956, distributing 100% of donations to non-profits and employees in need. Several of our volunteers are former county employees who donated to the fund while working.

Lutheran Church Pacifica Synod – The Matthew 25 Fund of the Evangelical Lutheran Church has bestowed many annual grants. It was created by Jerry and Lynda Engelhardt to help the hungry and homeless and others in need–as described in Matthew 25: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat….”

If you know of an organization we should partner with please reach out to: gm@seniorgleanerssdco.org