KQED Women's History Hero 2010

Anna Chan is an amazing Mother on a mission to save the world, one little lemon at a time. With a passion that all children deserve fresh fruit at their table, it shocked Anna to find neighborhood fruit rotting to the ground all the while families in her very own community are going hungry. In her grassroots efforts, Anna has spent countless hours knocking on fruit tree owners' doors, distributing flyers, asking them to share with the poor. She harvests the fruit herself and delivers to local food pantries. She also networks with farmers for leftover market donations. In the first year, Anna's efforts yielded $100,000 worth of fresh produce to local hunger relief organizations. She soon realized this forgotten urban harvest spans across America. She is hoping to inspire others that one person can truly make a difference to those less fortunate. It all begins somewhere. One Person. One tree at a time.
Anna furthers her outreach by public speaking, community gardening, and publishing www.thelemonlady.blogspot.com, which has become a respected Community Resource, emphasizing Food Education, the value of whole, fresh foods, gardening, the needs of our community food banks and the population they serve. Readers will find inspiring ways to reward volunteers in their own community, step-by-step instructions and sample flyers to promote the cause, or start your own fruit collecting adventures, Any Town, USA. Anna hopes to partner with other service organizations to further the cause "flyers on fruit trees, fruit to food banks." If we see a tree with fruit rotting to the ground and do nothing, then nothing will ever get done. Publicity is the only way to reach others far away.

For outstanding volunteer service and selfless commitment to the hunger cause, Anna, "The Lemon Lady" has been recognized in dozens of media, honored with a special Commendation from California Garden Clubs, Inc., a prestigious Jefferson Award for Public Service and KQED Public Broadcasting Women's History Hero 2010.

FOR MEDIA, AWARDS, REFERENCES, CLICK HERE.