Gleanky
Glean Kentucky is a 2010-founded nonprofit that rescues surplus fresh produce from farms, grocers, and farmers markets across three Kentucky regions and redistributes it free of charge through partner feeding agencies to food-insecure families.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersLexington, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Gleanky does
Glean Kentucky is a Kentucky-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2010 that rescues surplus fresh fruits and vegetables from farms, orchards, grocers, and farmers markets and redistributes them to food-insecure populations through a network of partner feeding agencies. Operating under the tagline "Gather. Connect. Nourish.," the organization runs volunteer-powered gleaning trips across three regions—Central Kentucky (Lexington headquarters at 628 North Broadway), South Central Kentucky (Bowling Green, launched September 2020), and North Central Kentucky (Louisville area, launched 2023). Since inception it has redirected nearly 3,000,000 pounds of fresh produce, with 221,603 pounds rescued across 870+ gleaning trips and 1,589 volunteer hours recorded in 2025 year-to-date.
The organization does not operate a technology product or proprietary software platform. Its underlying "infrastructure" is human and logistical: eight paid staff (including Executive Director Jennifer Palmer, appointed November 2024; Development Director Bekah Worster; Program Director Jim Earley; and regional field coordinators) coordinate scheduled gleaning trips, transport produce, and deliver to recipient pantries, food banks, senior housing facilities, and community organizations. Donation processing runs through Blackbaud; supporter communications use Mailchimp; the website is WordPress-based. Field operations include a "Plant It Forward" program that picks up home-garden produce from residential doorsteps for redistribution.
Glean Kentucky's business model is donation- and grant-funded; no fees are charged to beneficiaries or recipient agencies. Revenue sources include individual donations, corporate sponsorships (notably McBrayer PLLC at $10,000 annually since 2020 for a $50,000 cumulative commitment), foundation grants, government support (Kentucky Department of Agriculture), and community fundraising events such as the annual Burgers and Beats festival and Kentucky Gives Day participation. Customer segments comprise four constituencies: (1) food-insecure Kentucky families (approximately 1 in 7 Kentuckians face daily food insecurity), (2) partner feeding agencies, (3) food donors (Sam's Club, Reed Valley Orchard, Stepping Stone Farm, Rootbound Farm, multiple grocery chains), and (4) community volunteers.
Gleanky firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Gleanky
- Legal name
- Glean Kentucky
- Website
- https://gleanky.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Glean Kentucky is a 2010-founded nonprofit that rescues surplus fresh produce from farms, grocers, and farmers markets across three Kentucky regions and redistributes it free of charge through partner feeding agencies to food-insecure families.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Gleanky industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Food Rescue Services
- NAICS
- Community Food Services (62421)
- SIC
- Agricultural Services (700)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Food Waste Reduction & Diversion Services (Donation, Animal Feed, Source Reduction Programs) (EUAIAEAH)
Keywords
Where Gleanky is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Lexington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Gleanky business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Donations and Grants: Glean Kentucky relies on charitable donations from individuals and organizations, grants from foundations and government entities, and corporate sponsorships. Donation forms are processed through Blackbaud. No program fees are charged to beneficiaries.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels10 records
Gleanky product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Glean Kentucky rescues and redistributes surplus fresh fruits and vegetables from farms, grocery stores, orchards, and farmers markets to food-insecure populations across Kentucky. The organization coordinates volunteer-powered gleaning trips, collects produce donations from farms and grocers, and redistributes the food free of charge through a network of partner feeding agencies including food banks, food pantries, senior housing facilities, and community organizations operating across Central, South Central, and North Central Kentucky.
Product overview
Glean Kentucky is a nonprofit food rescue organization that gathers surplus fresh fruits and vegetables from farms, grocers, and farmers markets, and redistributes them to food-insecure populations across Kentucky. The organization does not operate a software product; rather, it provides direct gleaning services through volunteer-driven food collection and redistribution operations across Central, South Central, and North Central Kentucky regions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Food Rescue and Redistribution Service Core service that rescues surplus fresh fruits and vegetables from farms, grocery stores, orchards, and farmers markets across Kentucky and redistributes them free of charge to food-insecure populations through partner feeding agencies. As of 2025, the organization completed over 870 gleaning trips recovering 221,603 pounds of produce with 1,589 gleaning hours.
- Volunteer Gleaning Program Coordinates volunteer-powered gleaning trips to farms, grocery stores, orchards, and farmers markets to collect surplus produce for redistribution. Volunteers are central to the organization's operations, contributing thousands of hours annually (1,589 gleaning hours in 2025 year-to-date).
- Plant It Forward Home Garden Produce Program Allows home gardeners to donate surplus garden produce, with Glean Kentucky staff arranging pickup from doorsteps for delivery to nonprofit partners, expanding the donor base beyond commercial farms and grocers.
Quantifiable outcome
- Nearly 3,000,000 pounds of fresh produce redirected since 2010
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Gleanky
Customer profileNamed customers18 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Gleanky technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Gleanky partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
17 partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and major.
- BlackbaudcoreProvides online donation processing and donor management services. Glean Kentucky's donation forms are powered by Blackbaud, which handles payment processing.
- MailchimpcoreEmail communications and newsletter platform used to send updates to supporters and donors.
- Reed Valley OrchardcoreLong-term farm partner providing apples for gleaning. Glean Kentucky has partnered with the orchard for multiple seasons, collecting windfall apples and distributing thousands of pounds to feeding programs.
- Stepping Stone FarmcoreFarm that took over management and operations of Reed Valley Orchard, continuing the partnership with Glean Kentucky for apple gleaning.
- Valley Spirit FarmcoreNorth Central Kentucky farm partner and produce donor for gleaning operations.
- Rootbound FarmcoreMajor produce donor in North Central Kentucky. In summer 2024, donated 3,263.3 lbs of the 3,833.4 lbs total rescued in NCKY.
- Paul's Fruit MarketminorGrocery store donor in North Central Kentucky.
- Field Day Family FarmminorFarm partner in North Central Kentucky.
- Sam's ClubcoreMajor grocery donor providing surplus products for gleaning in South Central Kentucky, including pallets of produce for redistribution.
- Feeding America, Kentucky's HeartlandmajorSouth Central Kentucky partnership (SOKY) launched in January 2022 for food distribution coordination.
- Feeding EKYmajorEastern Kentucky nonprofit formed after devastating flooding. Received bulk apple donations for distribution to flood-impacted communities.
- Community Farmers Market (Bowling Green)coreWeekly gleaning at the market since launching South Central Kentucky operations in September 2020.
- Kentucky Horticulture CouncilminorOrganized Buyer Grower Meet Up in Western Kentucky where Glean Kentucky participated.
- Kentucky ProudminorState agricultural marketing program collaborated on Western Kentucky events.
- Lots of FoodminorLocal urban grower that helped identify persimmon trees for urban foraging expeditions in Louisville.
- GoodFoodsminorCommunity partner listed in organization's partner acknowledgments.
- Association of Gleaning OrganizationsmajorNational organization representing gleaning organizations. Staff member Jim Earley serves on the Board of Directors as part of the leadership.
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Gleanky competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Forgotten Harvest: Michigan food rescue nonprofit that collects surplus perishable food from grocers, farms, and restaurants and redistributes it to partner feeding agencies — directly comparable surplus-recovery and redistribution mission.
- Boulder Food Rescue: Colorado volunteer-powered food rescue that redistributes surplus produce via bicycle and direct distribution; highly comparable volunteer-driven, surplus-recovery operating model.
- Salem Harvest: Oregon-based gleaning nonprofit that organizes volunteers to harvest and donate surplus fruits and vegetables from local farms and orchards — directly comparable gleaning model and farm-partnership approach.
- AmpleHarvest.org: National nonprofit connecting home gardeners with local food pantries to donate surplus produce — overlaps with Glean Kentucky's 'Plant It Forward' home-garden donation program.
- Food Forward: California-based gleaning and food rescue organization that recovers surplus produce from farms and markets and redistributes it to communities in need — directly comparable volunteer-powered gleaning model.
- Society of St. Andrew: National gleaning nonprofit that recruits volunteers to harvest surplus produce from farms and redistributes it to feeding programs; the closest direct peer to Glean Kentucky's operating model, just at a multi-state scale.
- Food Rescue US: National platform-based food rescue organization that connects surplus food donors directly to local agencies and volunteers; operates the same 'rescue and redistribute surplus food' model as Glean Kentucky.
Broad incumbents
- Feeding America: National food bank network and the largest hunger-relief organization in the U.S.; Glean Kentucky is a smaller, specialized surplus-produce operator within the broader Feeding America partner ecosystem (it partners with Feeding America's Kentucky Heartland affiliate).
- WhyHunger: National hunger-relief and advocacy nonprofit that supports a network of emergency food providers; comparable mission of reducing food insecurity but operates more as an umbrella/advocacy organization rather than a direct gleaner.
Regional players
- The Food Group: Minnesota-based nonprofit food bank that rescues and redistributes surplus food to a network of partner agencies; comparable redistribution operating model, but serves a different Midwest geography.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Gleanky social profiles
Digital presenceGleanky financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Gleanky leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles11 records
Gleanky funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Gleanky M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Gleanky
What does Gleanky do?
Glean Kentucky rescues and redistributes surplus fresh fruits and vegetables from farms, grocery stores, orchards, and farmers markets to food-insecure populations across Kentucky. The organization coordinates volunteer-powered gleaning trips, collects produce donations from farms and grocers, and redistributes the food free of charge through a network of partner feeding agencies including food banks, food pantries, senior housing facilities, and community organizations operating across Central, South Central, and North Central Kentucky.
Is Gleanky a public or private company?
Gleanky is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Gleanky founded?
Gleanky was founded in 2010. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Gleanky based?
Gleanky is headquartered in Lexington, United States, in the North America region.
How does Gleanky make money?
One revenue line is on record: donations and Grants.
Who are Gleanky's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Forgotten Harvest, Boulder Food Rescue, Salem Harvest, AmpleHarvest.org, Food Forward, Society of St. Andrew and Food Rescue US. Broad incumbents are Feeding America and WhyHunger. The Food Group is listed as a regional player.
Does Gleanky have an API?
No public API is recorded for Gleanky.
What industry is Gleanky in?
Gleanky's product category is Food Rescue Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUAIAEAH, Food Waste Reduction & Diversion Services (Donation, Animal Feed, Source Reduction Programs). Its NAICS code is 62421 and its SIC code is 700.