Lebanon — Willing Hands, a Lebanon-based nonprofit that shares fresh produce with people in need, is looking for volunteers to pick fruits and vegetables from area farms to be donated to people throughout the Upper Valley.

“We need a lot of willing hands to help with the harvest,” Carolyn Frye, volunteer coordinator for the organization, said in a news release.

Last year Willing Hands gleaned 78,000 pounds of produce, picking fruits and vegetables from fields after they had been commercially harvested. The food was then donated to more than 50 organizations throughout the Upper Valley that distributed it to people in need.

Although volunteers picked an impressive amount of food last year, they also had to leave some food in the fields because they didn’t have enough manpower to get it all, Frye said.

“The more volunteers we have the more we can collect,” Frye said. “If we had more volunteers we wouldn’t leave anything in the fields, which would be wonderful.”

The food collected by Willing Hands is an important source of fresh produce for people struggling to afford food, supplementing the canned and boxed goods that are often found at food pantries and similar organizations, the organization said.

Throughout August, Willing Hands will be picking blueberries on Monday and Thursday evenings, from 4-5:30 p.m., at Hill Farm in East Plainfield. Last year, the organization picked 1,944 pounds of blueberries.

Volunteers are also needed on Monday mornings, from 7:30-9, at Cedar Circle Farm East Thetford; Tuesday mornings at Crossroad Farm Post Mills and Thursday mornings at Edgewater Farm in Plainfield. There will be additional picking times and locations added in September, throughout apple-picking season.

For more information or to volunteer, email gleaning@willinghands.org.