Their name is 412 Food Rescue, and their goal is to collect food that would otherwise be wasted and get it to people who are in need.
412 Food Rescue believes that everyone should have access to high quality food. That includes fresh fruit ripening on trees in backyards and parks all over Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.
"People are coming out and saying, 'Hey, I have an apple tree in my backyard, or my neighbor has one. Let me connect you,'" said program director Hana Uman.
Uman let Channel 11 join her Hidden Harvest volunteers as they collected fruit from a small yard in Squirrel Hill. The Pittsburgh Department of Public Works and neighbors help 412 Food Rescue locate the urban crops.
"Harvesting persimmons that would just have dropped on the ground and gone to waste, and now they are going to Lawrenceville United to be distributed to their refugee program," Uman said.
This is only their first season, and Hidden Harvest has picked an estimated 2,300 pounds of fruit from both city-owned and privately-owned trees. The food then is donated to community organizations that serve the food. Very little goes to waste: Even slightly damaged fruit can be pressed into cider.
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