What Skagit Gleaners does

Skagit Gleaners is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered at 1021 Riverside Drive, Mount Vernon, Washington (EIN 94-3065925), founded in 1988 and operating continuously in Skagit County. Its mission is to address food waste and its environmental impacts while building an equitable local food system. The organization is structured around a "community-driven food system" that combines a paying cooperative membership market, a Saturday free public food distribution program for individuals meeting WSDA income guidelines, a volunteer-powered field gleaning program that recovers unharvested produce from local Skagit Valley farms, targeted Migrant Programs serving seasonal farmworkers, and a Community Education and Advocacy function that participates in regional coalitions and service clubs. Farmers who donate surplus produce receive a federal tax write-off, which functions as a continuous supply-side incentive for the gleaning operation.

The organization's business model combines three revenue streams: cooperative membership fees (the core recurring mechanism, billed annually with specific pricing not publicly disclosed), member market purchases of produce and goods, and tax-deductible donations and grants. All donations are IRS-deductible. Go-to-market is community-led and relationship-based — word-of-mouth, local speaking engagements, partnerships with organizations such as the Community Resource Coalition, Northsound ACH, the Skagit Community Action Latino Advisory Committee, and various service clubs (Rotary, Lions Club, Kiwanis, Soroptimist), plus an organic social presence on Facebook and Instagram. Prospective cooperative members are onboarded via in-person facility tours rather than digital self-service.

There is no proprietary technology platform; operations are physical (gleaning, storage, on-site market). Marketing channels are informal — community events, partner referrals, newsletter, and organic social — and the geographic footprint is strictly Skagit County, Washington. The organization reports to a Board of Directors, operates multiple physical market and distribution schedules across the week, and has published a 2022 Annual Report. No funding rounds, M&A activity, headcount figures, or financial disclosures are present in the available data, consistent with a small, locally-rooted community nonprofit.

Name

Skagit Gleaners

Legal name

Skagit Gleaners

Website

https://skagitgleaners.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Skagit Gleaners is a Mount Vernon, Washington 501(c)(3) nonprofit, founded in 1988, that runs a community cooperative market, a Saturday free food distribution program, volunteer-driven field gleaning from local farms, and targeted Migrant Programs for farmworkers in Skagit County.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Food Distribution

NAICS

Community Food Services (62421)

SIC

Retail-Grocery Stores (5411), Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Member-Owned Food Cooperatives (CRAHALAA)

Keywords

• Food recovery services
• Gleaning program
• Community food bank
• Food distribution
• Cooperative grocery

Headquarters

HQ city

Vernon

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Cooperative Membership Fees: Community members join as paying members of the cooperative, paying a membership fee to access the market and purchase produce at reduced cost. This is the core recurring revenue mechanism.
2. Market Produce Sales: Members purchase produce and goods at the on-site market, generating revenue from the cooperative marketplace.
3. Donations and Grants: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Skagit Gleaners accepts tax-deductible financial donations from individuals and organizations to sustain programs and purchase fresh local produce when donations are low.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Skagit Gleaners recovers unharvested produce from local farms in Skagit County and redistributes it through a cooperative membership market and a free public food distribution program. The organization also operates targeted migrant programs, a household goods donation program (Gratitude Galleria), and community education initiatives centered on food justice and food waste reduction.

Product overview

Skagit Gleaners operates as a community-driven food system nonprofit with multiple interconnected programs. The core offering includes a Community Cooperative Membership model providing families with affordable food access through paid memberships, supplemented by a Free Public Food Distribution program open to all community members. The organization runs a Field Gleaning Program that collects surplus produce from local farms to reduce food waste. Additional programs include Community Education & Advocacy for outreach and awareness, Migrant Programs addressing food access for migrant workers, and the Gratitude Galleria for household item donations. These programs work together to create an equitable food system that addresses food waste while building community resilience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Community Cooperative Membership A paid cooperative membership program where community members join to access discounted groceries, fresh produce, and household items through a community-driven food system. Members shop during scheduled market hours.
• Free Public Food Distribution A free food distribution program open to anyone in need on Saturday evenings, providing food regardless of membership status. Eligibility based on WSDA income guidelines.
• Field Gleaning Program A program that collects unharvested produce from local farms to reduce food waste and supply fresh produce to the community. Farmers receive a tax write-off for their donations.
• Community Education & Advocacy Educational programs and community advocacy initiatives raising awareness about food justice, food systems, and the organization's mission through speaking events and local partnerships.
• Migrant Programs Targeted programs addressing the specific food access needs of migrant workers and their families in the Skagit County agricultural region.
• Gratitude Galleria A year-round resource where members can access donated household items including clothing, linens, kitchen appliances, and office supplies.

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, moderate and minor.

• Local Farms and Agricultural ProducerscoreOthersSkagit Gleaners works with a network of local farms to collect produce that farmers are not able to harvest. Farmers receive a tax write-off for their donations. This is the core supply-side partnership model that powers the entire organization.
• Community Resource CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerActive participation in the Community Resource Coalition, a local coalition of community organizations working together to address resource needs in the community.
• Northsound ACHmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerInvolvement in Northsound ACH (Accountable Community of Health), participating in regional health and wellness initiatives that intersect with food access and nutrition.
• Skagit Community Action Latino Advisory CommitteemoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdvisory committee focused on addressing the needs of the Latino community, supporting the organization's targeted migrant programs and food justice work.
• WE IgniteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partner organization with which Skagit Gleaners collaborates on community events and initiatives.
• Association of Gleaning OrganizationsmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational or regional association of gleaning organizations. Skagit Gleaners participates as a member, sharing best practices and collaborating with other gleaning organizations.
• Rotary, Lions Club, Kiwanis, and Soroptimist ClubsmoderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerInvolvement with various service clubs for community outreach, fundraising support, and volunteer engagement.
• Burlington Chamber of Commerce Ambassador CommitteeminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorParticipation in the Burlington Chamber of Commerce Ambassador Committee for local business networking and community visibility.
• Various Health CouncilsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipation in health councils to advocate for food access and nutrition as components of community health.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Northwest Harvest: Washington state's leading hunger relief agency distributing food across the state. Directly comparable as a Washington-based nonprofit addressing food insecurity through food distribution and farm partnerships.
• PCC Community Markets: Seattle-area consumer food co-op operating as a community-owned grocery. Comparable to Skagit Gleaners on the cooperative/paid-membership grocery retail axis, though at significantly larger scale and without the gleaning component.
• Seward Co-op: Minneapolis-based consumer-owned food co-op operating a grocery and community programs. Comparable as a member-owned cooperative grocery model with a community-mission orientation, though in a different geography.
• Society of St. Andrew: National gleaning nonprofit that recovers unharvested produce from farms for distribution to feed the hungry. Directly comparable as a gleaning-focused food recovery organization using farm partnerships and volunteer labor.
• Food Lifeline: Seattle-based food bank and hunger-relief nonprofit serving Western Washington. Directly comparable as a regional food distribution nonprofit addressing food access in Washington communities.
• Second Harvest of the Inland Northwest: Food bank distributing millions of pounds of food annually across Eastern Washington and North Idaho. Comparable as a regional hunger-relief organization using food recovery and distribution as its primary model.
• Thurston County Food Bank: Washington-state food bank serving Thurston County with a cooperative-style model including client choice market. Comparable as a regional Washington food bank with a market-based distribution approach.

Broad incumbents

• Hopelink: Large social services nonprofit serving North and East King County, Washington with food, housing, and family services. Comparable as a Washington social services nonprofit with food distribution as one of multiple integrated programs.

Others

• Washington State Farmers Market Association: Statewide association supporting farmers markets across Washington. Comparable as an ecosystem participant in the local food distribution and farm-to-consumer channel that Skagit Gleaners operates in.

Emerging players

• Vinegar Flats Food Forest & Gleaning Programs (regional gleaning orgs): Various small-scale community gleaning initiatives in the Pacific Northwest that recover unharvested produce from local farms. Comparable to the gleaning component of Skagit Gleaners at smaller scale, often operating as volunteer-driven sub-regional efforts.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/skagitgleaners
• Instagraminstagram.com/skagitgleaners/?hl=en
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/skagit-gleaners

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Skagit Gleaners