Neighbors Care Alliance
Iskashitaa Refugee Network
By Amelia Natoli , MPH, Iskashitaa Refugee Network Iskashitaa Refugee Network uses innovative food programs to unite UN refugees and local Tucsonans to feed their community. Iskashitaa was founded 20 years ago when Dr. Barbara Eiswerth returned from research in Malawi, Africa and recognized both an alarming amount of wasted food and a great deal of hunger in Tucson. She began to map backyard fruit trees in an effort to track potential untapped food resources, and was soon joined by newly-arrived Somali refugee teenagers who helped with the project. Together they decided that the word “Iskashitaa” described the effort of working together cooperatively in Somali Maay, a language that had no written form. Since then, the organization has worked with 45 ethnic groups who have resettled in Tucson and contributed their multicultural knowledge and skills to Iskashitaa and the community. Today the organization harvests up to 150,000 pounds of local food per year, over half of which is citrus from backyard trees. The abundance of harvested food has grown beyond the needs of current refugee participants, though a new location for Iskashitaa near Speedway and Alvernon gives us more access to refugees living in apartment complexes along the Alvernon corridor. Nearly 50 organizations pick up and distribute Iskashitaa produce, including Lend A Hand (another PCOA Neighbor’s Care Program, ICS, and Market on the Move. Iskashitaa has always been an intergenerational network, and it isn’t unusual for volunteers at a program to range from early teens to mid-80s. Citrus
We have many active members of neighborhoods, gated communities, and mobile home parks who coordinate efficient group harvests with Iskashitaa every year. In 2020, large group harvests were interrupted and we switched to individual and household “mini- harvests” to meet the food demand during breakdowns in the supply chain. This year, we are reconnecting with our community leaders, many of whom are seniors who want to mobilize their neighbors to help supply Tucson and beyond with citrus. This is a perfect fit with Iskashitaa’s mission, and we foster relationships with neighborhoods by providing presentations, flyers, guidance for organizing, and harvest volunteers. Residents can volunteer to help with harvests, and we are also in need of office volunteers to help with organizing and filing. Iskashitaa can provide presentations to neighborhoods and the NCAs, educating about local wasted food, hunger in our community, what to do with excess fruit, current refugee issues and success stories, and how we can all play a part in solving these bountiful challenges. For more information about volunteering or receiving services, call (520) 440-0100 or email information@iskashitaa.org.
season in Tucson coincides with the helping hands of many “snowbird seniors” who join our harvest crews. Winter is our busiest time of year, with 1,000 to as much as 4,000 pounds of citrus gleaned and redistributed each week. Many fruit donors are homeowners whose mature citrus trees have become too abundant for their household (we celebrate 100 year old trees). We encourage people to share their backyard fruit, but when a large lemon or grapefruit tree produces 1,000 pounds (2,387 lemons when we counted) in one season, fruit donors call Iskashitaa— (or even better, fill out our “Donate your Fruit” form at https://www.iskashitaa.org/ donate-your-fruit).
May 2023, Never Too Late | Page 27
Pima Council on Aging
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