My name is Kevin Ackley, and I am a gung-ho volunteer with Boston Area Gleaners. Boston Area Gleaners is a nonprofit organization working at the intersection of farming, food security, and food waste. Learn more about their mission and programs here.
In October each year, Boston Area Gleaners seek to raise money for their programs by participating in Three Square New England’s Ride For Food event. The purpose of this event is to bring mission-aligned bikers, walkers, and financial supporters together to raise essential funds to combat food insecurity in our community.
This year, rather than performing a feat of athleticism, I have decided to perform a feat of kindness to encourage donors to support Boston Area Gleaners. My fundraising concept is to bake and give away an apple pie for each $25 sponsorship of my campaign for Boston Area Gleaners. 100% of the cash donation will go to Boston Area Gleaners, after Three Squares New England administrative costs. The pies will be made with gleaned local apples and given to a soup kitchen/food pantry for free.
As a sponsor, you get a two-fold return: the satisfaction of helping a large food access organization deliver millions of pounds of food to those who need it most in our community, and the joy of knowing that you have brightened the day of someone suffering from food insecurity with a wholesome apple pie.
If you have any questions/comments, please send an email to info@PiesForHumanity.org
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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I sponsor a pie?
Click on the following underlined link to go to my page on the Boston Area Gleaners team fund-raising website. Note this donation page will be active until November 30.
https://ride.threesquaresne.org/fundraiser/6571364
Click on the orange DONATE button to go the donation checkout page. Select the amount you would like to donate to the Boston Area Gleaners. To sponsor one pie is $25, so select a donation amount that is a multiple of $25. Then fill in the personal information form. None of this personal information will be shared with me. Make sure to enter your email address to get a tax receipt.
In the comment field you can leave words of encouragement that are publicly visible on the Ride For Food website. Additionally, you can specify a custom message to the recipients of your sponsored pies on the label of each pie. Details in a FAQ below.
Finally, click on one of the 4 buttons in the lower left corner of the form to choose your method of payment.
Is my donation secure?
Yes. Three Squares New England handles donations, and they have successfully processed over $5 million in the past decade.
Is my donation tax deductible?
Yes. Both the Boston Area Gleaners and Three Squares New England are 501(c)(3) organizations. You will get a receipt emailed to you.
How do I include a message to the recipient on the pie box label?
You can optionally specify a custom message to be included on the pie box label in the comment field when you enter your donation. Any text entered in the comment field after the words label message: will appear on the label. The message can be up to 2 lines long. If you want to include your initials, first name, or a nickname/handle, I recommend you also add “Pie sponsored by”, to be clear. You could also choose uplifting words of encouragement or dedicate the pie to a loved one. Note the entire contents of the comment field will be displayed on the Ride For Food website publicly announcing your donation, but only the words after the label message: will appear on the pie box label.
For example, if you specified the following text in the comment field of the donation page:
Great work Kevin. You are as smart as you are good looking!
label message: Pie sponsored by KA
the pie box label would look like:
What’s in the pie?
The apple pies will be double crust (butter crust made from scratch) in a 9-inch disposable aluminum pan, weighing about 2.75 lbs. They will be packaged individually in cardboard boxes and delivered in cardboard cases. The apple varieties will vary based on picking season and availability at local gleaned orchards. Good varieties for apple pies are Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Golden Delicious, Macoun, and Cortland. Pies will be baked/frozen, or unbaked/frozen, depending on the use by the distributing hunger relief organization (see next question below).
Where will the pies go?
The sponsored pies will be delivered for free to the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter. The estimated need is large, roughly 150 frozen pies/week. The estimated total need during the 11-week production period is: 150 pies/week * 11 weeks = 1650 pies.
When will the pies be made?
Pies will be made in the 11-week period from October 1 to December 16. Donations for pie sponsorship will be accepted until November 30.
What is the ingredient and packaging cost of a pie?
Excluding labor, equipment, and cost of apples (available free from Boston Area Gleaners), the per-pie cost is about $4.00
How can I help PiesForHumanity?
Please help spread the word to folks that might be interested in sponsoring this campaign. Pass on a link to this site PiesForHumanity.org to your social media contacts.
I have a plan for sufficient labor and equipment to produce the total need of Nashoba Soup Kitchen (1650 pies in 11 weeks). However, I only have commitments from family, friends, and personally to fund the ingredient costs of 400 pies. The main ingredients in decreasing cost are butter, flour, sugar, and a pie box. If you have suggestions or contact names for possible grant sources or in-kind donations, please email info@PiesForHumanity.org. Support for ingredients will be acknowledged on every pie label and on this website.
Is PiesForHumanity a registered tax-exempt non-profit organization?
No. PiesForHumanity is just a brand name for my charitable campaign. Sponsor donations don’t pass through my hands -- they go through Three Squares New England to the Boston Area Gleaners and are fully tax-deductible.
Who is Boston Area Gleaners?
Boston Area Gleaners was founded in 2004, and in the 2024 season distributed 4.3 million pounds of food to 72 recipient organizations in the greater-Boston area.
Boston Area Gleaners is a regional food systems organization working at the intersection for farming, food waste, and food security. Their mission is to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables across our communities while supporting our region’s farms and reducing systemic food waste. Their vision is to facilitate a reliable and fair agricultural supply chain that will improve the viability of regional farms and the health of communities who have historically suffered from inequity in the food system.
See https://www.bostonareagleaners.org/about-us.html for more information.
Who is Three Squares New England?
Three Squares New England was founded in 2012. Its signature event, The Ride For Food, is a yearly bike-a-thon that has raised over $5 million for 35 hunger relief organizations in New England. In addition to the bike ride, participants can walk 5km or make up their own activity (which is pie baking, in my case).
See https://threesquaresne.org/ride-for-food/#call-to-action for more information.
Who is Kevin Ackley?
I have been a Boston Area Gleaners volunteer since 2021. A gleaner is someone who harvests surplus food to be given away for free. I have personally gleaned more than 150,000 pounds of produce, many of which were apples. Two years ago, I rode 25 miles in The Ride For Food fund-raiser. Last year, I swam 25 miles. This year, I am going to make as many apple pies as I physically can in 11 weeks. I am a reasonable sourdough bread baker, and a soon-to-be reasonable pie pastry baker.
I am extremely motivated by the country’s abandonment of its hungry residents and am acting locally to help. Please join me.
Who is Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter?
The Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter was founded in 1981 and is the largest soup kitchen in New Hampshire. Dinner is served to roughly 150-to-200 people every day of the year. Breakfast is also served on non-holiday weekdays. The organization also runs a food pantry that is open on weekdays and one Sunday a month. The food pantry offers a shopping-style selection of non-perishable food, fresh produce, and frozen items to roughly 120 shoppers/day. The food recipients are the homeless and the working poor in the Nashua area. No identification is required.
See https://nsks.org/our-services/ for more information.