Produce Program

The goal of the TCFB produce program is to increase the amount of fresh produce available to clients. Through pilot projects and community outreach efforts, we strive to improve the nutritional benefit of distributed produce and encourage community involvement and volunteering.

Thurston County Food Bank partners with community gardens that grow and donate produce to the food bank throughout the year. We have a long standing partnership with the Olympia Kiwanis Food Bank Garden. The Olympia Kiwanis garden provides close to 14,000 pounds of produce from July to October. This accounts for 75% of the total produce distributed by the food bank. We will continue to see this number grow yearly as Kiwanis involvement in other gardening projects expands in the community.

Please email the produce manager for more information about the Kiwanis Food Bank Garden: Produce@thurstoncountyfoodbank.org

The Thurston County Food Bank partners with GRuB (Garden Raised Bounty), an Olympia non-profit that focuses on food and farming educational outreach, job placements for youth, and helps build raised garden beds in the community. GRuB hosts the annual food bank growers' meeting, which coordinates the efforts of home gardeners, farmers, and local schools. This meeting opens up an opportunity for other growers to meet one another, while organizing and improving the variety of produce grown, donated, and distributed to clients. If you are interested in growing food for the food bank please download our Produce Growers' Guide.

The Food Bank Winter CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Project provides monthly produce boxes to qualified participants. The food bank purchases Winter CSA’s from local growers and distributes the shares to low-income households. The project seeks to increase the amount of produce available during the winter months. For eligibility requirements and client application click here. The program also supports gleaning teams who actively harvest produce from local farms, other growers, and collect produce from the farmers’ market. The volunteers' work as a group is to increase the amount of locally grown produce available to clients during the fall and late summer.

If you have an interest in produce and would like to know more about volunteering at the food bank, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator at (360) 352-8597 x 103 or email at volunteers@thurstoncountyfoodbank.org