Just a few months ago, after all the winter rain, Brea was blooming in many of our neighborhoods with lots of flowers and the trees were bearing fruit.

Well, the flowers have faded, but there is still fruit on some of these trees, on the ground, and in the gutters. In some cases, rats and other animals are feasting on the fruit.

There are also homeowners in Brea whose trees have a lot of fruit that hangs too high to pick without a tall ladder and someone to climb on it. Eventually, the fruit that the birds don’t nibble on rots and falls to the ground and into the gutter where the rats feast on it. Not a pretty sight and a huge waste. But there is a simple solution: fruit pickers.

Fruit pickers are typically volunteers who pick excess fruit from local residents’ trees and give it to nonprofits and other organizations that distribute it to hungry people who cannot afford fruit at the market.

There are many volunteer groups throughout California that collect food. In San Diego, there is the Senior Gleaners, which are for those 55 and older. In addition to harvesting fruit from homes and farms, they also collect excess fruit and vegetables from markets and restaurants and then give them to groups that distribute them to those in need.

There are a few volunteer fruit-picking groups in Orange County, including Food for the Famished, which was founded this April by David Hemmerling, 17, of Yorba Linda. Fruit For The Famished is a campus club at Esperanza High School in Anaheim, where Hemmerling is now a graduate.

In the four months since the club was formed, Hemmerling, his parents and other club members have harvested and donated over 2,000 pounds of produce to those in need and are expecting more volunteers when school starts.

Not only are these young people helping those less fortunate, they’re also racking up volunteer hours. Hemmerling also points out that another benefit of fruit picking is that it’s free exercise. Not bad.

Also in Orange County, Beth Huber founded GrowAndShareOC three years ago. Her nonprofit group of volunteer fruit and vegetable pickers has collected about 25,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables since the first harvest.

Huber and her volunteers pick and collect fruit and other home-grown produce from people’s backyards, primarily in Orange.

“We harvest about 10 to 20 buckets per event,” Huber said. She added that each bucket holds about 10 kilograms. After they collect the produce, they deliver it to shelters and other organizations that feed the hungry.

“We are based in the city of Orange,” Huber said, “but we sometimes pick in Anaheim Hills and Santa Ana, but we mainly focus on Orange.”

She would like to encourage others to start fruit picking groups.

“I’m definitely willing to help in any way I can,” she added. Perhaps someone in Brea will take her up on her offer.

It’s definitely time for Brea to have fruit pickers. If a teenager at Esperanza High School can start a picker’s club, why can’t students at Brea-Olinda High School do the same and collect those all-important community service hours?

Fruit picking could also be a great project for Boy Scouts, perhaps a group from the Brea Senior Center, sports teams, and church groups. Or even your Bunco group.

Keep this in mind, especially the next time you see rotting fruit from a neighborhood tree in your gutter.

Terri Daxon is a freelance writer and owner of Daxon Marketing Communications. She shares her perspective on Brea twice a month. You can reach her at [email protected].