In the wee hours of Saturday morning, a Scottsdale parking lot is alive with activity. It’s not revelers from nearby Old Town. Instead, some 20 volunteers have assembled at FBCScottsdale before the sun is up, pulling plump red tomatoes, yellow bell peppers, verdant green Anaheim chiles and summer squash from large pallets and packing the produce efficiently into smaller cardboard boxes.
They work quickly to ensure they’re ready for the line of eager shoppers pulling up to purchase these hefty packages in exchange for a donation to Borderlands Produce Rescue. The nonprofit saves fruit and vegetables from landfills while providing an affordable way to buy fresh food.
Volunteer Marietta Strano leans over and asks the time. It’s 6:45 a.m., 15 minutes before the nonprofit’s drive-thru market technically begins, but a line of cars is forming on Osborn Road. The group is ready, so they begin waving people through…