North Okanagan Valley Gleaners swimming in 84,000 pounds of peas

It’s raining peas at the North Okanagan Valley Gleaners.

The organization that helps feed the hungry around the world recently received a substantial donation that will help them achieve their goal of bringing food security to poorer nations.

Volunteers unloaded 84,000 pounds of peas earlier this month. The peas will be used in the dehydrated soup mix made at the Lavington plant.

“Thank you to our friends in the Fort St. John area that look after these shipments every year. Peas are critical to good nutrition in our soup mix as they are the main source of protein,” reads a post to the Gleaners Facebook page.

The Gleaners also ship donated medical equipment to Africa, and recently sent off their first shipping container of the year. The 40-foot container was full of donated medical equipment, heading for Eswatini.

2022 was a banner year for the Gleaners. After producing 5.1 million servings of food in 2021, they more than doubled that figure last year, producing and shipping more than 13 million food servings overseas.

“I am so proud of our volunteers,” board chair Harold Sellers said at the time. “This amazing amount of food would be impossible to produce without them. The people of the North Okanagan and our volunteers are making a significant contribution to feeding those who need it most.”