About Us

OUR MISSION

From tree care to fruit share, we empower Boulder County, Colorado communities to reduce food waste, increase equitable access to locally grown fruit, minimize wildlife conflicts, and foster healthy and productive fruit trees.

OUR VISION

Our vision is a community united in strength, health, resilience, and justice, where a vibrant urban tree canopy thrives, supported by knowledgeable stewards. Here, everyone enjoys access to healthy, local food, food waste is dramatically reduced, and humans and wildlife coexist in balance.

HOW WE DO IT

Fruit Tree Care

Empowering local communities to nurture healthy, resilient fruit trees that strengthen our urban canopy, support ecosystems, and nourish our community.

Learn about tree care
Fruit Harvests

Mobilizing community volunteers throughout Boulder County to harvest surplus urban fruit and share it widely, strengthening local food security and reducing waste.

Join a harvest
Fruit Preservation

Teaching community members to transform freshly rescued fruit into shelf-stable products, reducing food waste & extending the benefits of the harvest season year-round.

Learn to preserve
Bear Coexistence

Integrating community education with residential fruit harvests to reduce attractants in urban areas, protecting black bears and supporting safer neighborhoods.

Coexist with bears

OUR HISTORY: WHY FRUIT MATTERS

Fruit trees are a defining part of Boulder County’s landscape. From historic orchards planted in the late 1800’s to the thousands of apple, pear, plum, apricot, and cherry trees growing in neighborhoods, parks, and open spaces today, fruit trees remain especially abundant throughout the City of Boulder and surrounding communities.

Much of this fruit goes unharvested each year, falling to the ground while many neighbors lack access to fresh, healthy food. The surplus fruit attracts wildlife like black bears into urban areas, creating unsafe situations for both animals and people.

In 2014, after a year of especially heavy fruit production, a small group of community members came together to address these challenges. They saw an opportunity to care for local trees, harvest fruit that would otherwise be wasted, share it with neighbors, and reduce wildlife conflicts — all while bringing people together around a shared local resource.

Community Fruit Rescue grew from this grassroots effort. Today, we continue that community-powered work through our roots-to-fruits approach: caring for trees, mobilizing volunteers, rescuing fruit, and sharing it throughout our region. What began as neighbors responding to a local problem has grown into a movement to reduce waste, improve food access, preserve our urban orchard heritage, and support coexistence with wildlife.

Because when we care for fruit trees, everyone benefits — people, wildlife, and the community we share.

Supporting our community for over a decade

Since 2014, Community Fruit Rescue’s harvest program has:

Rescued more than

178,000

lbs of fruit

Distributed

751

harvests

Engaged over

460,868

servings of fruit locally to food insecure individuals and families

Organized over

1,200

unique volunteers who contributed thousands
of hours of work

Get involved with our harvests

TESTIMONIALS

"At Community Food Share, we’re more than a food bank — we’re a neighbor and a friend who’s been part of the fabric of Boulder and Broomfield Counties for decades. We know that ending hunger in our communities requires collaboration. That’s why we greatly appreciate our partnership with Community Fruit Rescue as they provide Community Food Share with a bounty of just-picked apples and pears, that our participants love. With thousands of lbs of fruit donated to our food bank and our local Partner Agencies each year, Community Fruit Rescue is committed to fighting against food insecurity for years to come." Photo © Caroline Colvin.

—Community Food Share
"Community Fruit Rescue is such a unique experience, and we make the trek from Centennial because it's a wonderful opportunity to volunteer as a family and because I love how the organization makes use of food that would otherwise likely go to waste. I think kids in general love hard work, especially outside, and the results are so tangible with Community Fruit Rescue! We learn so much together, including team work, plant life cycles, where food comes from, and it also helps us think about food waste, which is a huge problem in our country. We have been volunteering since 2018, and as my boys have gotten older, it's become even more fun! We are very grateful to have the opportunity to work together as a family with such a wonderful organization."

—Kristine, Volunteer since 2018
While the majority of Community Fruit Rescue's harvested fruit is donated to humans in need, some of our other fruit recipients are much...furrier. Along with many other species, the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, CO houses approximately 117 Black Bears and over 83 Grizzly Bears that were rescued from illegal or abusive situations. And they require a lot of food and care! At each of our harvests, our team saves as much of the fruit as possible to prevent it from ending up in the landfill. Fruit that is slightly damaged or unripe is donated to the Wild Animal Sanctuary's bears. We’re also proud that our harvests remove a critical food attractant for Boulder's wild black bears, and instead support these rescue bears in Keenesburg.

—Wild Animal Sanctuary
"I love Community Fruit Rescue! They took over 200 lbs of apples off my trees at the perfect time. Neighborhood bears were out and about the week following, and I had nothing to attract them in my backyard. And I’m thrilled that lots of people and some animals got to enjoy the delicious apples that grow freely in my backyard. All of the volunteers I worked with were friendly and conscientious, and they did a great job!"

—Stacy, CFR Tree Steward
“Community Fruit Rescue is fully aligned with our shared mission to reduce food waste and increase equitable access to nutritious food, such as the locally grown fruit that CFR provides. In our community surveys, fresh fruits and vegetables are always requested by our clients, yet fruits are less frequently donated by farmers markets and grocers compared to vegetables. By working with CFR, we can provide fresh, local fruit to our neighbors in need, who might not otherwise have access to this sort of high-quality nutritional produce. This past year, we were able to distribute over 1,000 lbs of fruit from CFR to low-income families, seniors, and unhoused community members across Longmont. We are so grateful for this partnership and the fresh, local produce it provides for our community!”

—Naomi Curland, Longmont Food Rescue
“The Good Life Refuge in Longmont is excited to be partnered with Community Fruit Rescue for the last three years! This year our rescued farm animals enjoyed over 500 pounds of harvested surplus apples. The fresh fruit provides food and enrichment for our pigs, cows, goats, equines, sheep, and chickens. We’re proud to be a part of CFR’s journey to harvest overlooked local fruit to prevent food waste and minimize wildlife conflicts.”

—Good Life Refuge
"I love volunteering for CFR for so many reasons. Literally everything about it is marvelous! You get to be outside during the nicest time of year, you spend a few hours with fellow volunteers who are lovely and interesting, the homeowners are happy and grateful you are there, just being all up in a tree and picking fruit is so pleasant, you get to take home local, fresh apples and make tasty things. I love how we prevent the fruit from being wasted and get it to people and animals who can use it."

—Raina, Harvest Leader Volunteer
"I love Community Fruit Rescue. I reached out a few years ago because I had more fruit than I knew what to do with. From the beginning CFR communicated well with me, asked great questions and when they came to pick were organized, friendly and helpful. That has been true every year since. I particularly love that the fruit is used to support people, and animals and that it also helps lesson bear visits. I am not afraid of the bears, but I know that the more interaction they have with humans the more dangerous it is for them. By picking the fruit, it lessons their visits. I love that volunteers come with their children and that everyone benefits from the visit. They are always so friendly, respectful and helpful. Everything CFR does is well thought out and beneficial for all concerned. I look forward to year four of having them harvest at my house!"

—Polly, CFR Tree Steward
“I was able to harvest immediately after signing up to volunteer! I’ve been looking for ways to contribute to my community and this was sooooo rewarding. If I have the availability, I’m gonna be there picking fruit 100% of the time.”

—Janeece Johnson
“Our family “inherited” a large apple tree on our property. It is too much for us to manage collecting and processing so much fruit. When I found Community Fruit Rescue, I was thrilled to have someone who would take on harvesting and/distributing our lovely apples. Every year a happy crew of pickers arrive. Sometimes young, sometimes old, sometimes families. Whomever they are, they work with joy and attention. We have used Community Fruit Rescue every year since and will gratefully continue to do so.”

—Sonia, CFR Tree Steward
"As a partner of Community Fruit Rescue, Boulder Food Rescue has received over 900 lbs of fresh fruit donations this season. This fruit is incorporated into our Food Rescue program where it is distributed at our No-Cost Grocery Programs. These programs reach over 6,000 individuals throughout Boulder County. Participants overwhelmingly told us that they would like to receive more fresh fruits, and the fruit CFR rescues and donates to us is some of the freshest fruit one can get."

—Boulder Food Rescue
"CFR donated locally harvested apples for the Fruit & Veg Boulder and Longmont program distributions in September. This program serves families living in Boulder and Longmont who are ineligible for federal food assistance... Over 90% across both programs agree that it is very important for their family to have access to more locally grown fruit. We received a lot of positive feedback and families were extremely excited to have access to this harvested fruit!”

—Boulder County Fruit & Vegetable Program