Gleaners was founded in 1980 by a group of concerned citizens who felt strongly that no one should go hungry. Since that time, they have distributed nearly 600 million pounds of food and critical grocery items through a committed network of more than 300 food pantries, soup kitchens, schools, and community partners. In addition to food distribution to hunger relief agencies throughout their 21-county service area, Gleaners also operates Fresh Connect Central, one of 7 regional produce cooperatives for Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization. In addition, they are a disaster relief staging site for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the contract reclamation site for Kroger Central Division.