Bountiful Baskets

Last year, on Facebook, I saw a lot of my Eastern Idaho and Utah family and friends talking about Bountiful Baskets. Then after wondering much about it my Mom gave me the low-down. For a $15 contribution you received 6 different types of fruit and 6 different types of vegetables. And they were in abundance. Tricky part was, we could only have Bountiful Baskets in the Treasure Valley if someone volunteered in an area that already had it and brought it here. And I assumed it would be a blessing we wouldn't have here, ever. Then in August I saw a friend post that a Bountiful Basket site had opened in Middleton. I made my contribution the next Monday and participated the next Saturday and was hooked. On Saturday mornings I would get up at 5am, get ready for the day, drive 20 mintues to Middleton, volunteer for an hour to help the site coordinator there, and drive 20 minutes home with my box of produce. I was a happy girl, and in the first month alone lost 9 lbs! Then a friend suggested we start a site in Meridian. I thought about it, debated about it, talked to Jake about it, and then decided, I was already spending 1 1/2 hours every Saturday morning doing it, why not. I knew a lot of people who would LOVE to participate as well.

And so this is where you will find me on Saturday mornings, volunteering with a bunch of fantastic people. Unloading a semi with 6,000 lbs of produce and various other goodies, bread, tortillas, cases of produce, cookies, to name a few. Distributing all of the produce in 192 white plastic baskets. And watching 96 very happy families pick up their produce for the week. It's been such a great experience for my entire family. I have made some fun new friends and run into many old acquaintances. My children have learned how to contribute to their community and the value of hard work.

And our basket is better than Christmas morning. You never know what you are going to get and the possibilities are endless! This weeks basket contained:

1) pineapple

1) cantaloupe

1) lb strawberries

1) pint blueberries

6) bananas

1) head romaine lettuce

8) red potatoes

1) tomato on the vine (3 tomatoes)

3) broccoli crowns

1) lb green beans

2) jicama

2) cucumbers