16 November 2018

Borderlands Fresh Produce P.O.W.W.O.W. Here in Downtown Mesa Tomorrow

“Produce on Wheels Without Waste” Your MesaZona blogger is happy to report that Borderlands Food Bank, a non-profit organizations that leases two 13,000-sq.ft warehouses in Nogales will be distributing 70 lbs of fresh produce for $12.00 tomorrow morning at the Fitch Family Community Center on the NWC of 2nd Avenue/Center Streets starting at 08:00 a.m.
Nutritious fresh produce here in Downtown Mesa . . . A Pop-Up Fresh Produce Market
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Borderlands Food Bank is vital to the health and well-being of Arizona by providing fresh nutritious produce to people, undertaking the task of helping to eradicate hunger and advocating for the environment. http://www.borderlandsproducerescue.org

Our Mission
The mission of Borderlands Produce Rescue is to rescue produce and in turn improve the quality of peoples lives, by addressing their most basic of needs – accessibility to nutritious fresh produce and living in a healthy environment.
  • Rescuing Unwanted Produce Before it Ends Up in Our Landfills
  • Provide Affordable Fresh Produce to Anyone in Need – No Qualifying
  • Build Partnerships that Create Produce Rescue Awareness
  • Lead to Achieve Our Vision of Rescuing Produce for Generations
Borderlands is able to accomplish its vision by working in conjunction with our many generous donor partners, social clubs, churches, civic organizations, food banks and national hunger relief organizations to make sure communities have access to our rescued produce.
All-Volunteer Staff Sat 17 Nov Pop-Up Market
Here in Downtown Mesa
How We Do It!
“We Rescue Produce!” All of which is either excess produce from distributors (donor partners), “ugly” produce that grocery stores won’t put on their shelves. The produce would have otherwise ended up in a landfill, where distributors would have to pay to get rid of it. We have rescued more than 39 different varieties of vegetables and fruit– from over 120 donor partnerships. Less than 1% of the donations are non-produce items such as milk, canned soup, cereal and other non-perishable items. Often times, at least 10% to 15% of the produce Borderlands is able to rescue is unusable, and is in turn sent to either local farmers as animal feed or trucked to the San Xavier Reservation for the University of Arizona compost Cat Program. Borderlands rescues roughly 30 – 45 million pounds of produce each year.
Located about 1.5 miles away from the Mexico border, Borderlands has two 13,000-square-foot warehouses which serves to receive and distribute the produce through programs including:
“Veggies R’ Us” – Our warehouse market is open to the public Tuesday through Friday. Anyone can get a shopping cart full of produce for a $5 donation. On Mondays, the warehouse is open for nonprofit organizations to come and take up to 10 boxes of produce for free.
“Produce on Wheels Without Waste” or P.O.W.W.O.W. as it is affectionately called. – Produce is distributed at each our weekly pop-up produce markets around Arizona by volunteers. These sites are hosted by community organizations, churches, civic organizations, schools and universities, just to name a few. For $12 participants receive 70lbs of fresh produce. We typically provide a produce list with the quantities of each item participants can shop for, this ensures that everyone receives the same mix of produce.
Our P.O.W.W.O.W. After Hours program works with area non-profit organizations who, once registered with Borderlands, are able to pick-up up to 10 boxes of each variety of remaining produce from the pop up markets and is only open at the completion of each of our weekly market sites and only after our participants have had a chance to shop. 
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Here's their Story & Their History
Borderlands can trace its history back to the early 1990’s, when the Mariposa Community Health Center (MCHC) formed a committee to explore the possibility of starting a food bank in Santa Cruz County, Arizona. In 1993 the MCHC worked with the Community Food Bank of Tucson to raise $10,200 in funds to pay for a small warehouse in Nogales, Arizona. An additional grant from FEMA allowed for the distribution of emergency food boxes.
In May of 1994 the Community Food Bank took over the management of the Nogales food bank from MCHC, and decided that the food bank, which they named Borderland Food Bank, should become a non-profit entity. A Board of Directors was formed, and in January 1995 Yolanda Soto was appointed Executive Director. Borderland remained under the management of Community Food Bank until 1996, when at the urging of Ms. Soto, it became an independent entity. In August 1997, Borderland Food Bank received its own 501 c(3) designation.
Over time, Borderland eventually outgrew its original facility. It currently leases two 13,000 sq.ft. warehouses in Nogales. Each facility has two cold rooms to better maintain the integrity of the donated product. Borderlands Food Bank is vital to the health and well-being of Arizona by providing fresh nutritious produce to people in need, undertaking the task of helping to eradicate hunger and advocating for the environment. In Santa Cruz alone, there are more than 5000 households with over 16,000 individuals registered to receive our produce.
Our Mission
The mission of the Borderlands is to rescue produce and improve the quality of life for the people of Arizona, by fulfilling their most basic of need – accessibility to nutritious fresh produce. Overtime the mission of Borderlands has grown to providing fresh produce to not only those living within Arizona, but also those living in neighboring states, stretching as far south as Sonora, Mexico, and as far as 23 surrounding States in the U.S.
Borderlands is able to accomplish its mission working in conjunction with social clubs, churches, civic organizations, food banks and national hunger relief organizations to make sure the community has access to fresh produce. Borderlands is determined to help those in the community with food insecurity concerns, not knowing the next time they’ll be able to have fresh produce as part of their diet.
Our Work
Each year, Borderlands rescues between 30 to 40 million pounds of produce –more than 39 different varieties of vegetables and fruit– from over 120 donor partnerships. Less than 1% of the donations are non-produce items such as milk, canned soup, cereal and other non-perishable items. Often times, at least 10% to 15% of the produce Borderlands is able to rescue is unusable, and is in turn sent to either local farmers as animal feed or trucked to the San Xavier Reservation for the University of Arizona compost Cat Program.
Of the rescued produce that is edible, Borderlands distributes fresh produce to over 390 agencies and, through our direct distribution programs, to individual families (over 100,000 members).
In 2015 Borderlands transported 39 million pounds of produce with Borderlands’ trucks having driven 218,600 miles delivering tons of fresh produce.