TRAVERSE CITY -- Not all of Michigan's surplus apple crop stayed in the orchards.
More than a million apples from Cherry Bay Orchards were donated to Hope and Encouragement for Humanity, a nonprofit organization based in Blissfield that will distribute the fruit to food pantries and other outlets throughout the U.S. and Mexico.
"Michigan had a bumper (apple) crop; the biggest crop we've ever had," said Leelanau County apple and cherry grower Don Gregory, a partner at Cherry Bay. "There was a huge oversupply of processing apples, and they weren't going to get to market."
Gregory's brother, Bob, visited with a representative of Hope and Encouragement and learned there was a pressing need for fresh fruit products at food pantries throughout the country. Seasonal workers at Cherry Bay also chipped in, donating their time to pick the apples for the food bank.
"All of the sudden, there were five truckloads of apples," Gregory said. "It kind of got started and got bigger and bigger."
Local trucker Barry Dunklow donated his time, truck and fuel costs to deliver the fruit, Gregory said, and Applewood Orchards donated dozens of used apple boxes for the project. The work created a "silver lining" for a local apple growing season that included a steep glut of fruit and some of the poorest apple-picking weather that growers could remember.
"It felt good, after we grew all these, that we could get them to a place where people can eat them," Gregory said.
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