THATCHER — The Gila Valley’s opportunity to eat healthy while saving money is getting easier.
On the first Saturday of each month, the Safford Lions Club makes available up to 70 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetable for a donation of $15 through Borderlands Produce Rescue’s PowWow (Produce on Wheels Without Waste). Patrons drive up at the distribution, located in the parking lot of the Home Depot store, and volunteers load the produce into the patrons’ vehicles.
Lions Club president Marion Hastings said there are now two additional ways to secure that produce — online and through home delivery.
Online reservations ensure that patrons receive some of every item available. Due to limited stock, some drive-up patrons who arrive later in the morning may not receive every item, but ordering online secures a full complement of items. Online orders are limited and can be made at Drive Up and Take Away Donation Page (borderlandsproducerescue.org).
“We’re also going to be starting up the Uber,” Hastings said. “We haven’t had (any) Uber orders yet, but Borderlands has got that going also in different areas. So we’d like to see how that goes, too.”
Online and Uber orders require a donation of $16, to offset card processing fees.
Borderlands, in Nogales, has been rescuing unsold produce for 28 years, making it available to the public through partnerships with nonprofit organizations throughout Southeastern Arizona. It’s estimated more than 750 million pounds of fresh produce has gone on people’s dining tables rather than being dumped in landfills.
