Instead of letting mangoes go to waste, donate them!
By Deborah S. Hartz-Seeley
This season we seem to be having a bumper crop of mangoes. “It’s hard to miss them hanging on trees throughout the county. They have such a presence,” says Pablo Del Real, founder of Auroras Voice, a nonprofit incubator in Delray Beach.
Although Del Real doesn’t have a mango tree in his own backyard, he knows how sweet and juicy a tree-ripened mango can be. But he also has noticed that a lot of the fruit is on the ground going to waste. Or it’s being scavenged by trespassers picking the fruit for their own purposes.
That’s why he’s created MangoesForCharity, which is collecting and selling the mangoes to help fund local nonprofit agricultural projects.
Joining with other area nonprofits including Delray Students First and Passion Vine Farm, he’s inviting Palm Beach County residents to harvest and donate their excess mangoes to help these good causes.
Once collected, the mangoes will be made available to the public for a suggested donation of $1 for large, first-quality fruit and 50 cents for smaller, lesser pieces.
If you’d like to contribute or pick up mangoes to enjoy, there are four locations that will also benefit from the fund-raising: Delray Students Farm School 4-H Program, Delray Beach Children’s Garden, the Frog Alley Community Garden in Delray Beach, and Passion Vine Farm in Lake Worth. The Gladiolus Education Garden, a community garden under construction in northwest Delray Beach, also will benefit, says Del Real.
At the Farm School, minority children are tutored in an agricultural setting. “Science, math, engineering, art, technology and robotics are the focus but we use the garden as the vessel for study,” explains program director Faye Pelosi.
So at this mango pickup and distribution center, the children are learning from this mango project as they paint the signs, collect and count the inventory and sell the mangoes to parents picking up their children at the nearby Boys & Girls Club.
“This southern corridor of Delray, where fresh fruit isn’t always available at the corner stores, can really benefit from their efforts,” says Pelosi.
If you’d like to donate your excess mango crop, select slightly green fruit that will have some shelf life. Although drops are OK, avoid any fruits with broken skins or signs of critter munching.
If you can, place the mangoes in cardboard boxes that can be recycled as weed barrier in the gardens that benefit from the fruit, suggests Del Real.
It’s not critical, but if you know the cultivar of your fruit tree such as a Haden, Nom Doc Mai or Valencia Pride, please mark the boxes so that those who come to take the mangoes will know what they are getting.
This project should last for another month or so, says Del Real. “But the timing is up to Mother Nature.”
How to help
To donate fruit to MangoesforCharity (www.MangoesForCharity.org), visit the following locations where the fruit also will be available to take home for a suggested donation of 50 cents to $1. If you’re picking up fruit, call ahead to check availability.
Delray Students Farm School at the Boys & Girls Club, 1451 SW 7th St., Delray Beach; 289-1767. Hours: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday.
Delray Beach Children’s Garden, 137 SW 2nd Ave., Delray Beach; 901-3467. Hours: 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday
Frog Alley Community Garden, 250 SW 4th Ave., Delray Beach; 445-4293. Hours: 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday.
Passion Vine Farm, 1134 19th Ave. N., Lake Worth; 424-1499. Hours: 2 to 6 p.m. daily except Friday.
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