Volunteer Profile: Gianna Banducci

Here at Urban Gleaners, our volunteers play a vital role in helping us redistribute a bounty of surplus food to Portland area schools and hunger relief agencies. Last year these dedicated individuals helped us rescue over 571,000 pounds of food from Portland area restaurants, grocery stores, and farmers markets, as well as helping out at our summer supper and the Urban Gleaners community garden. It feels important for us to recognize the incredible efforts of these 40+ volunteers, whose combined actions contribute greatly to alleviating hunger for the students and families we serve. We are so grateful for their generosity and support, and are excited to initiate our “Volunteer of the Month,” profile page to recognize these individuals for all their hard work!

Volunteer of the Month: Gianna Banducci

Gianna joined us in January 2013 with a wealth of experience in the world of food. She earned her master’s in food culture and communications from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy, and currently works as the director of sales and marketing for Our Table, a cooperative of farmers and producers in Sherwood, OR. When Gianna stumbled across Urban Gleaners, she was excited by the opportunity to take action and has been picking up donations from City Market and delivering them to our distribution center over the last year. She sees this simple action as a practical, hands on response to local issues of hunger and enjoys being part of this chain of redistribution. Her volunteer work with Urban Gleaners has dovetailed naturally with her own work in the food world, and she loves that she has been able to keep Urban Gleaners’ in her back pocket. We are so grateful for her dedication and helping hands, which make a real difference in the work we do. Thank you Gianna!

For more information about Our Table, you can check out their website or visit the farm for their Spring open house: Sunday April 6th at 1:30.

Interested in volunteering with Urban Gleaners? We have some upcoming opportunities at the Urban Gleaner’s community garden and PSU Farmer’s Market. For more information, contact Danielle or check out our volunteer page .

By Danielle Garcia, Program Coordinator