Liberator In Action: Kathy Faith

Kathy Faith is the founder of Happy Harvesters, an organization that harvests backyard fruit trees and donates their bounty to food pantries within Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Faith and Youtropolis co-founder Elisa Charouhas recently discussed how the pandemic unexpectedly triggered Faith’s charitable venture. Her reflections bring to mind the saying, “where there’s a will, there’s a way” and show us just how possible it is to bring forth goodness in a darkened world. She is this month’s featured Liberator In Action.

The Conversation:

Looking way back in time, maybe as much as ten years ago, you were visiting me and we couldn’t take our eyes off my neighbor’s orange tree. It was brimming with oranges. It triggered a conversation about how much fruit on backyard trees goes to waste. I mentioned how my nephew, Paul, a school teacher at the time, took an orange to school every day, and a particular student approached his desk each morning and humbly asked if he could have it. Apparently the kid came to class hungry. 

That conversation, so long ago, led to an interesting question: wouldn't it be great if there was an organization that could harvest unwanted fruit growing in people’s backyards and donate it to schools or food banks in underserved communities?

I remember. It was such a good idea.

Over the years, I’d look at that tree and wonder what it would take to launch something like that. Then, out of the blue after the pandemic, you emailed an article published in your local paper about a group of volunteers called Happy Harvesters, and there you were in a photograph, captioned as the group’s founder, up on a ladder picking fruit!

I guess that seed got planted all those years ago and was just waiting for God’s timing.

You took on an idea and brought it to fruition—so many people haven’t a clue how to do that. What triggered you to start such a massive undertaking?

When the pandemic started, I was feeling very hopeless, and my friend and I wanted to be part of something good during such a sad, isolating time. So we started volunteering at South County Outreach food bank in Irvine on Fridays handing out provisions to families that came for food—all walks, all incomes. The pandemic really made a level playing field for people who had been very successful and lost their livelihood overnight.

Simultaneously, on my way home after volunteering, I'd see all these trees loaded with fruit and I'd think to myself, God, there's so much here that could be donated. And I’d be reminded of this especially on days where we’d run out of provisions at the food bank, leaving families empty-handed. That’s when it became clear to me that maybe people who owned these trees would be willing to donate some of their produce to a local food bank.

Need really is the mother of invention. How did you take that clarity and turn it into action?

I posted on Facebook to local communities and asked people with fruit trees to consider donating any fruit they couldn’t use to their local food bank. I thought it was my role to just plant the seed for other people, but I also said I’d help them find a local charity that’d be grateful to receive the fruit. But right out of the gate, people who contacted me wanted me to pick their fruit as well.

Uh-oh.

Well, there were a lot of widows, seniors, and original homeowners who could no longer harvest their trees, and so I'm like, well, okay. The first homeowner I met with feared I was a scammer, but once she realized I was serious and harmless she wanted me to pick her trees. I had to be honest and tell her I’d never picked a tree before. And I'm afraid of heights! And I’m realizing it’s just me, and no help. I didn’t even know how to harvest the tree or what tool to use. So I literally flew by the seat of my pants.

It sounds like a baptism by fire.

Initially it was, but then a gal in my Bible study volunteered to help. And when I talked with others about what I was doing, they joined in, including my Bible study leader. So it started there, where in that first season we picked 5000 pounds of fruit with just three, sometimes four volunteers, using homeowner’s ladders, and supplying our own tools—and then came a $250 donation of tools from my church!

That’s huge. Did you have a distribution plan?

I just drove everything down to South County Outreach where I was a volunteer. Sometimes, we had so much fruit the food bank couldn’t handle it all—like 1000 pounds of lemons which take a lot of refrigeration, so I had to work on finding other food banks that could take some of the harvest.

Did you see that as a negative, like, now I’ve got more work and a problem to solve, or more as a positive like an opportunity to expand your distribution into other food banks and neighborhoods?

It was challenging initially, but it confirmed the need was great in other areas of the community. That made me eager to increase the harvest in season two with more volunteers.

Previous to this, your lifestyle was one of going on regular vacations throughout the year with your family to Hawaii and Costa Rica and, all of a sudden, here you are with a time-consuming “ministry” helping people. Was your family open or resistant to the change? I wonder because families often put up roadblocks to loved ones who are chasing their dreams.

At first, my husband humored me. I mean, we were both retired, did little things around the house, and yes we travelled a lot. But now I was coming home wiped out and dirty from picking trees all day. On top of that, with the loads increasing in size, I’d borrow his pristine Toyota truck which now was getting some dings and scratches from loading crates and tools. I don’t think he was happy about that, but I’d say, “Dave, don't you want to pick with me?” Eventually, I learned my passion doesn't have to be his passion. Still, he did help me pick a couple of times despite his hips needing replacements. Ultimately, my family was proud of me, but initially there were opinions like, “You need to do less,” or, “You're doing too much, or “It's taking a toll on you.” That wasn't helpful because the need and opportunity were there, and I wasn’t going to squander it.

I think support from family is critical, foundational, especially because love and support are instrumental in growing any novel venture—and helpful when exhaustion sets in.

For me, it went from a passion to a labor of love to I'm exhausted. But I know it's calling me and I need to see this through. Fortunately, there’s time off because we stop picking after June and start up again in January. So, I get a reprieve and then I get a little excited again for the whole cycle to begin again. We’re now in season four.

You’ve had amazing growth since season one, and last year you received a prestigious commendation from the Orange County Supervisor’s Office.

Yes. We more than quadrupled our yield in season two, bringing in 27,000 pounds of fruit, and doubled our stable of volunteers. It was growing so quickly that it felt overwhelming. Then a neighbor put me in touch with Food Finders, a well-established, non-profit that rescues food and reduces waste in Southern California. They loved our backyard project and offered to bring us under their umbrella. It was such a relief, and a real growth opportunity for us. They agreed to supply insurance, tools, and pick up and deliver any volume of fruit that exceeded 800 pounds. It was really a gift that facilitated season three’s growth where we brought in 67,000 pounds of fruit and expanded into new Los Angeles and Orange County communities. With their help and through word of mouth, we were able to increase our volunteer base to 40 people.

How did the name Happy Harvesters come about? I love the name.

My neighbor, Diane, and with input from a few volunteers, we came up with some names, and then we created a survey and had our bible study group vote on it. They were basically our focus group!  

I think the universe conspires to bring new things into this world. It taps one or more of us with a given idea and waits to see who follows through. You followed through.

I did. The pandemic was really the right time for Happy Harvesters with people being available to volunteer and the community need being so great.

What advice would you give to someone who’s inspired to start a new venture without much know-how, experience, or resources, as you did?

If I had known what it was going to take, I probably wouldn't have started it. It would have scared me. Not knowing what was ahead was my advantage. I believed I was just dabbling in a need to help people who were hungry. I think often when people dream big, they dwell on all the challenges they might face and comforts they’ll have to give up, saying, oh my God, I can’t do that.

And the moral of the story is you can't look at the future, you have to move forward tackling just what's in front of you.

Exactly. Brick by brick, and however it's supposed to unfold, it will. I'm so shocked that it became what it did. I never would have imagined that in a billion years. It's remarkable to me how quickly it grew, very holistically, and what I learned for myself was when I'd worry that we don't have enough trees to pick or, oh my gosh, we don’t have enough volunteers—what am I gonna do? In every instance God showed me over and over again—He provides.

What would you say to someone who says, “I can't change anything? I'm just one person.” 

I get it. I’ve felt the same way, and that's what drove me to the food bank. I can't change anything beyond my vote, but I can do something positive and be the ripple of good in a moment in time, and that ripple can expand. For Happy Harvesters it has expanded, and God willing, will continue.

Can anyone start their own Happy Harvester group in their neighborhood—like a neighborhood harvest group akin to a neighborhood watch group?

Definitely! If there are trees to harvest, absolutely. Honestly, if I can do it, anyone can. Harvesting backyards is actually a fun way to join with like-minded people who care about strengthening bonds within their community while filling a real need that supports underserved communities—it’s a way to be that ray of sunlight in someone else’s dark day. It’s definitely also a way to have fun and share in the fresh fruit that’s gleaned.

That’s beautiful, Kathy. You're doing something meaningful and expansive post-retirement and wanting it to be bigger yet because you know the need is so great—that's a true liberator.

But I need others to grow it. If anyone is up for that, please send me a private message at Happy Harvesters here on Youtropolis where you can also find knowledge in our U of You with easy-to-follow steps on starting your own local group, inviting neighbors to have their trees harvested, details on best tools to harvest with, and much more.