Got fruit? New rescue group will pick it for you

If you have a tree ripe with apples in your backyardor a bursting blueberry patch you aren't planning to pick, there's a group of fruit rescuers ready to pitch in and help you out.

The Humber Valley Fruit Rescue Project was started by the Western Environment Centre with the goal of harvesting and distributing surplusfruitin the area.

"It's a group of volunteer pickers and volunteer homeowners that work together to take care of the bounty of fruit out there that tends to get wasted," said Becky Shea, projectco-ordinator with the Western Environment Centre.

The harvest is split evenly three ways:between the volunteerpickers, the homeowners and a local not-for-profit organization.

So far the group has done one rescue a raspberry patch that yielded about five kilograms of fruit.

Shea expects apples to be the bulk of the harvest, but the group is interested in any fruit ripe for the picking.

It's also interested in hearing from charitable organizations that could use donations of fresh produce.

More information can be found on the Humber Valley Fruit Rescue Project Facebook page.