Leket Israel, the leading non-profit food rescue organization in Israel, is on track to host 20,000 volunteers from abroad in 2016, a 31-percent increase from 2015. More than 50-percent of these travelers have or will be making their way from the US over to Israel in order to make a difference and impact the Israeli community – the destination they selected for a vacation. Volunteers can contribute to food collection efforts, at Leket’s logistics center itself, or in rural farming fields picking excess produce for distribution to the needy.

“It is amazing that so many foreign travelers are willing to take time out of their vacation to come support the Israeli community,” said Leket Israel Founder and Chairman Joseph Gitler. “Their work directly impacts the amount of fresh nutritious food that Leket Israel provides to the growing number of Israel’s poor.”

More than 52,000 people volunteer with Leket annually, many of whom come from the United States, Canada, South America and Europe. These volunteers sort and pack rescued produce at the main logistics center and work in Leket Israel’s designated farmer’s fields to pick fruits and vegetables.

According to Leket Israel’s 2016 Food Waste and Rescue Report, more than 2.5 million tons of edible food, with a market value of NIS 8 billion is wasted in Israel annually and these voluntourists are helping to reduce this amount of food. Rescuing 25-percent of food waste translates to a savings of NIS3 billion, equivalent to the food purchasing gap between the food insecure and food secure.

Leket Israel-The National Food Bank is the leading food rescue non-profit organization that rescues fresh, perishable food, which would otherwise be considered waste, from farms, hotels, military bases and catering halls in an effort to aid the quarter of the country’s population that lives below the poverty line. The organization works with 195 non-profits throughout the country to distribute nutritious food to more than 175,000+ Israelis weekly. Last year alone, Leket collected more than 30 million pounds of food for the needy.

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(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)