The good Cornellians can do: Mariangela (Nicolosi) Noyes ’86

When the Sun Lakes, Arizona retirement community where Mari Noyes '86 lives was developed in the 1990s, many residents planted citrus trees. Three decades later, the trees are thriving and producing more fruit than the homeowners themselves can consume.

Mari volunteers with Sun Lakes Citrus Sharers, a group that harvests the abundant fruit and shares it for free with neighbors and local food banks. More than 400 members head out in groups of 10-20 during picking season (late January through mid-March) to pick fruit.

Mari loves getting outdoors with her fellow fruit pickers. She enjoys carefully collecting the oranges, lemons, and grapefruit that fall onto blankets they spread under the trees. Mari and her team inspect the fruit for damage, then sort it into collection buckets for donation.

“We each usually bring a bag to collect damaged fruit to bring home for ourselves or our neighbors to enjoy since it needs to be eaten relatively quickly,” says Mari. She recalls eating one of the oranges that fell and split open.

“I sat in the warm morning sun and enjoyed that fresh orange. It was cold from the nighttime low temperatures (40s) and tasted so good. I know it sounds kind of corny, but, looking back, I know that as people in need get to enjoy fresh fruit, locally grown and picked by people who really care, they, too, may savor that fruit as much as I did.”

Last season, the Sun Lakes Citrus Sharers picked over 100 tons of oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes, and other citrus varieties. The local food bank exchanges excess fruit with regional partners for other items they need.

“Our fruit gets dispersed in a wide radius!” Mari says proudly.

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