Ricks, MEND Provide Free Fruit for Seniors

by Russ Alman

Ricks brought two large tubs of apricots to the Senior Center. Each time, the produce was gone within a day.

​It’s not the first time Don Ricks has showed up with boxes of fruit.
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Last year, Ricks brought apples and pears. Those were quickly snatched up and taken home by the members at the Wenatchee Valley Senior Activity Center.

Don Ricks sorts through a tub of cherries he picked earlier in the morning to provide to members of the Wenatchee Valley Senior Activity Center.

Ricks is a member of the Senior Center and participates in the Writers Group and lunch program. But he has a passion for helping people with food insecurity through Upper Valley MEND, a Leavenworth-based nonprofit “Meeting Each Need with Dignity,” providing at-risk community members with access to free healthy food and healthcare, low-cost clothing and household goods.

Ricks is a veteran fruit picker. When he was younger, he spent summers in the Wenatchee Valley picking as a summer job.
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Before moving to Wenatchee three years ago, Ricks was involved with City Fruit, a produce-gleaning nonprofit in the Seattle area. Once he moved here, he quickly connected with Upper Valley MEND.

“I used to be a fruit picker and I like to still be able to get up in the trees as I get older,” said Ricks.

While he volunteers with MEND to collect fruit for other at-risk groups, Ricks has taken it upon himself to personally supply the Senior Center with fruit from local orchards.

In early July, he was able to secure two large tubs of freshly picked apricots from orchards in the Leavenworth area. Both days that he brought the fruit to the Senior Center, members and visitors scooped them up within a day.

Later in the month, Ricks learned that a family orchard near Pangborn Memorial Airport had cherries to donate. Due to a family emergency, the owners were unable to pick the crop and the fruit would have rotted on the trees. Ricks spent a morning at the orchard and picked enough fruit to supply the Senior Center with a large tub, plus enough for Serve Wenatchee, Parque Padrinos and the Women’s Resource Center.

“It’s clear to me that grocery prices are going up dramatically,” said Ricks. “There are people here in Wenatchee that are having a hard time paying their grocery bills.”

Ricks truly enjoys providing fruit for the Senior Center. “It’s been the most fun group that I’ve ever given fruit to,” said Ricks. He feels gratified that the seniors show so much appreciation for his contribution.

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