James Harrald
Have you ever wondered where the unused fruit in your community can be donated? Perhaps, like many of our volunteers, you have found yourself wanting to help a neighbor but are not sure what to do with all that grapefruit! Well, look no further! We are the Sun Lakes Citrus Sharers, and we have been serving the Sun Lakes community since 2007.
What started as a hobby for our founders Sarah Kelzenburg and Marge Mickey has blossomed into more than 250 volunteers and more than 600 homes served. Our main goal is to gather fruit that will otherwise be wasted and deliver it to St. Mary’s Food Bank. St. Mary’s has been a valued partner for over a decade.
Our teams are your neighbors. While we do have volunteers from outside the Sun Lakes community, the majority live right here where we pick! We do our best to respect your privacy and property, but keep in mind that we are not landscapers or a free yard service. We do take donations to help cover our equipment expenses.
If you are interested in joining us, we will have our kickoff meeting on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, at 10 a.m. This will be a new location from years past. It will be held at Lindsey Hall at Sun Lakes United Methodist Church located at 9248 E Riggs Road, in Sun Lakes. We will cover all the picking dates, get you teamed up in the area you want to pick, and review all our methods and processes.
We have an increased need for support at what we call Citrus Central. All our teams deliver fruit to a central location for St. Mary’s to pick up with their semi. Because the fruit is served directly to their clients, quality control is essential. If you have an eye for quality fruit, please consider helping at Citrus Central.
If you are interested in helping pick but are not able to make the meeting, please email james.m.harrald@gmail.com. If you want your fruit picked, be on the lookout for contact information in our January Splash article.