We need your help to map the way to a fruitier future! 

This year for #GivingTuesday, we have an extra special request for support: to help us update and preserve our fruit tree map. The map is one of our greatest resources – it holds an inventory of 4,200+ trees we’ve mapped in Atlanta and Athens. We use this map every single day during peak harvest season, in order to know which fruits are ripening, where, and who will harvest the fruit. 

So what’s the problem? Many basic functions of the map have not been updated in 5+ years: simple search features and geo-locating services are defunct. As board member Carl DiSalvo explains, “The map doesn’t meet its full potential. It’s on five year-old technology. Now is the time to rebuild it, because it could do so much more for us and so much more for other folks around the city.” 

The map is critical to our ability to source the freshest produce and get it to folks who need it. One of our hunger relief partners told us, “We could get bread and sweets any day. But Concrete Jungle is giving us fresh things – freshly grown fruits that are healthy. And we need to recognize that it's not just enough to satiate hunger. It’s also about trying to provide nutrition, and trying to help people be well and healthy and whole.” 

Your donations this #GivingTuesday to Concrete Jungle will allow us to preserve the map as a vital public resource. This new and improved map will allow Concrete Jungle staff to be more efficient in their daily work. And then with your help, we will be able to scout more fruit trees, and in turn, donate more pounds of rescued produce to Georgia’s food-insecure communities. 

So help us map the way to a fruitier future for all by making a gift to CJ for #GivingTuesday. We couldn’t do this work without you. 

P.S. Thanks to a generous donor, all gifts will be matched up to $10,000, so your impact will be doubled!  

Concrete Jungle’s mission is to transform overlooked and underutilized fruit trees and land into a healthy food source for communities in need.

Concrete Jungle has branched out over the years, but fruit picks are still at the heart of our work. Every week from May to December, small clusters of volunteers gather to shake some trees and collect fruit. CJ staff then distribute the fruit to small hunger relief agencies across Atlanta. To date, we have rescued 1.4 million pounds of food that would otherwise go to waste.