Nancy Patterson, Team Captain, Citrus Sharers
It’s not yet time for Citrus Sharers to rev up buckets and poles for fruit pickin’. This article is dedicated to those 200-plus Sun Lakes volunteers who already donated 5,700 hours picking fruit this year, back in January and February. They know stuff.
They know that all the fruit gets donated to St. Mary’s Food Bank and that those who allow us to pick their fruit are generous heroes. They also know that getting fruit off the trees (we never get on ladders or roofs) helps keep pest populations down, and it’s just plain super-fun to pick fruit with your team. Bam! Now we all know that!
What you may not know is that Sun Lakes gets divided into 10 picking zones by Citrus Sharers, so we have 10 picking teams. And we need a captain for every team.(We’re talking, what, second grade math here?)
We only have eight team leaders, and we need two new team leaders/captains this coming year. There, I finally said it! Specifically, we need a captain for the Palo Verde area and one for south of Riggs Road on a new team called the “Rovers.”
As a team captain for four years, I can tell you I look forward to seeing everyone and getting some exercise. It’s pretty much a great way to help. But my favorite part of this volunteer gig is that it has a defined beginning and end. I can’t really annoy my teammates too much in five weeks. Burnout’s not an issue.
If you want to learn more or are ready to say, “I’ll be a team captain!” contact Laura Harrald at [email protected] or 206-228-5155.