Southold students glean produce to support CAST
Southold High School National Honor Society students laced up their boots and ventured out to Wesnofske Farms in Peconic last Thursday to glean produce and serve the community.
The annual tradition started 12 years ago, after English teacher James Stahl heard about gleaning — or gathering produce left over after a harvest — on the radio. He reached out to colleague Jason Wesnofske, a technology teacher at Southold High, about bringing students to his family’s farm to do just that.
“We’re always looking for ways for them to serve the community,” Mr. Stahl said of the NHS students, for whom he is the advisor. “If you just look, there’s no one sitting around; they’re all doing it. The kids actually look forward to getting muddy.”
Unlike last year, when it was raining during their trip, the sun shone brightly for the 25 students in the fields, which are owned by Mr. Wesnofske’s father, Gene. They originally planned to go on Monday, Dec. 15, but all of the vegetables were iced over from the snowfall over the weekend.
This year’s gleaning had students picking Brussels sprouts, broccoli and romanesco cauliflower. The students loaded about a dozen buckets of fresh vegetables onto the back of Mr. Wesnofske’s father’s tractor and were then brought to the Center for Advocacy, Support, and Transformation in Southold.
The food goes directly into CAST’s food pantry, which Sarina Harley, the food relief program manager, considers a gift. She feels that when people come to the pantry to help feed their families, it makes all the difference to see freshly picked produce from places like Wesnofske Farms.
Ms. Harley said that from early spring until just before winter, the pantry gets donations from farmers. Looking around the pantry, she said she can’t help but feel gratitude for the support the community offers them, including the students.
“It makes a major difference in every way, in terms of nutrition, in terms of dignity — which is a big thing for us,” she said. “Parents come in here, they want to take things that are good for their kids. Everybody wants that, and it enables us to offer them that.”
Throughout the entire trip to the fields, and even carrying the crates of produce to the pantry, the students were enjoying every moment. To Mr. Stahl, the students’ excitement to give back stands out clearly.
“One of the biggest questions I get every year is, ‘Why can’t we come back?’” Mr. Stahl said. “‘Why can’t we come back and do it again?’”
