Last Wednesday, in partnership with the Gila County Health Department’s AZ Health Zone, the nonprofit Borderlands Produce Rescue brought their Produce On Wheels Without Waste (P.O.W.W.O.W.) program to Globe-Miami for the first time – and it all got started through browsing TikTok.

Through the P.O.W.W.O.W. program, community members can take home up to 70 pounds of fresh produce – tomatoes, zucchini, watermelon and more – for a $15 donation. The program is part of Borderlands Produce Rescue’s mission to both distribute healthy foods to communities and save that produce from needlessly going to landfills.

“I actually came across Borderlands when I was scrolling on TikTok one night and saw a video of an event just like this,” said AZ Health Zone Manager Nikki Quarles. “I was really interested because I recently took over our nutrition program with the county. So I went to their website and had one of my employees fill out an application to become a host. About a month later I got a call saying, ‘Hey, we are on our way to Navajo County and we’re looking for an extra stop on the way.’”

Quarles said Borderlands gave them just under 24,000 pounds of produce. On Wednesday, in the CAL Ranch store parking lot, volunteers from the Health Department and youth volunteers sorted the vegetables into boxes. These were then loaded into participants’ vehicles, along with fresh watermelons. The event proved popular, with a line of vehicles extending down at least two rows of the parking area. Angela Carmichael, of Borderlands Produce Rescue, said they had received around 133 pre-reserved box orders.  

Quarles said this will not be Globe-Miami’s last P.O.W.W.O.W. event. She has confirmed five more, with the next one on Dec. 6. After that, they will take place the third Wednesday of every month until May 2024.

“We’re really excited about this,” she said.

Those interested in the program can either reserve a produce box ahead of time, through the Borderlands Produce Rescue website or Facebook page, or the Gila County Health & Emergency Management Facebook page, or make a cash donation at the event. People who reserve boxes will be served first, followed by those making a cash donation. 

To learn more about the P.O.W.W.W.O.W. program, visit https://borderlandsproducerescue.org/programs/redistribute/borderlandspowwow/.