In past winters, Allen and Laura Hall have left Alberta and driven to Yuma, Arizona for a little warmth.

When the dollar exchange became less favourable, they looked at other options and last year they came to Osoyoos instead, camping at Island View RV Resort.

But the Halls began volunteering at the Okanagan Gleaners just outside Oliver and they enjoyed the experience. So this year they’re back for about six months, volunteering their time to help feed the world’s hungry.

“We’re here for the wintertime and donating our time at the Gleaners about three to four hours a day and learning a new trade,” said Allen, 67.

They’ve been living in a recreational vehicle (RV) full time for the past 10 years, camping on an acreage near Alder Flats, Alta. during the summer and travelling south for the winter. When they left in mid-October, there was already snow on the ground.

At the Gleaners, they have an RV site with hook-ups where they stay while volunteering.

The Okanagan Gleaners is a Christian-based, non-denominational organization that takes surplus vegetables and fruit that might otherwise go to waste and turns it into dried soup mix to feed the world’s hungry.

“I like this concept of taking the food that would go into the landfill sites and using it to feed the hungry,” said Allen, a devout Baptist. “It’s a wonderful thing.”

He’s been dicing vegetables, working outdoors under a high canopy. First it was potatoes, but recently there have been a lot of onions, onions and more onions.

“I don’t like onions to begin with, but we’re doing onions and as long as I have a little fresh air, I’m OK,” said Allen.

Has he been shedding tears over the work?

“Yes, every day,” he replies. “I was shedding tears before I came to see you.”

Still, he has no hesitation in recommending the experience to other snowbirds who want to do something meaningful with their time as they stay in a milder climate for the winter.

Staying and working for Okanagan Gleaners, Allen said has helped him to get to know the Lord.

“For those that are looking for a different way of life, this is the place to come,” he said. “You get to meet other people from different walks.”

His wife Laura also describes the experience as fantastic.

“It’s quite a blessing because we didn’t know about Gleaners until last winter,” she said, adding that she appreciates being able to help the world’s hungry, especially since there are relatively few hungry people in Canada compared to some other countries of the world.

She also enjoys the temperate winter climate of the South Okanagan. And she enjoys the people she works with, including Okanagan Gleaners Manager Greg Masson.

Laura peels vegetables and also does cleaning work.

Unlike the Halls, who stumbled upon the Gleaners in the summer of 2015, Jenn Bate found them after extensive online research.

The recently retired nurse from Richmond Hill, Ontario, had never before travelled west of her home province. But she wanted to travel with purpose, to take on a mission, to volunteer for something worthwhile.

“I was looking for two months on the internet for what would be a good fit for me,” says Bate, 57, who describes herself as an Evangelical Christian.

“I was putting in hit words like ‘senior,’ ‘missions,’ ‘senior volunteer,’ ‘North America,’ ‘women,’ ‘RV.” Those are all the hits that I tried combinations of because I actually wanted to travel with purpose. I didn’t want to just travel randomly. I didn’t even know what part of Canada or North America I wanted to see. I wanted to have a central focus on where I could serve.”

When she began her research, the wildfires of Fort McMurray, Alberta, were very much in the news. But she soon realized she wasn’t needed up there.

When September came, she was an empty nester as her children were all away at school. And her husband was still busy working. This was her time to take a plunge into the adventure of retirement.

“I wanted to taste test it because I know my husband would not want to travel this way,” she said, referring to the small van she’s living in. “I’m the trailblazer for us.”

Nonetheless, he was supportive of her and helped her get the van ready, outfitting it with solar panels on the roof.

“We actually bought it for me to travel and converted it so I can sleep and cook in it,” she said.

She headed off in mid-September, embarking on a drive across Canada for her first time.

“I hadn’t even seen Canada from Ontario to here,” she said. “So the six-day drive was stunning and it was a geography lesson for me.”

Her first volunteer position was in Abbotsford where she worked at the Gleaners there for a month. Then, she arrived at the Okanagan Gleaners in mid-October.

“It’s absolutely perfect timing for the Gleaners because the crowds and campers from the summer have left and now there’s lots of product and lots of opportunity to help them out here,” said Bate.

Unlike the Halls, who are staying the entire winter, Bate plans to stay for four weeks. Then she’ll drive her van back to Ontario through the United States.

She’s done a bit of everything working at the Okanagan Gleaners, though she says some of the jobs like operating the big dicing machine or the forklift are “not my department.”

She too has spent a lot of time recently chopping onions, but she’s also worked with apples.

“I had the wonderful opportunity, which I loved, of going to Summerland and picking apples from an organic farmer’s field,” she said. “About a dozen of us did that just last week.”

The fruits and vegetables the Gleaners receive are donated by growers and packers by the tonne. Some of it is cosmetically flawed and some can’t be sold for other reasons, but all of it is good fresh or frozen food.

The Gleaners cut and dry the food in industrial dryers and in the spring it’s combined into soup mixes and packaged and packed into drums.

It’s then distributed by Christian aid organizations to needy people in destinations around the world.

Like the Halls, Bate also highly recommends the experience to others.

“It’s outstanding,” she said. “I came in hopes of being a blessing to others and I have been blessed tenfold. I had no idea what awaited me when I came to both the Gleaner locations, let alone the geography location. My eyes have been opened too on so many levels. It has really enriched my life.”

Bate said when she returns to Ontario, she wants to share the good of her experience and to encourage women, whether single or retired, to embrace this kind of travel.

“I think there’s a lot of fear in the world through various sources and it has paralyzed people from embracing what the world has to offer,” she said.

Bate said she would like to do something similar again, but next time she wants to bring others with her to share the experience. She also highly recommends the South Okanagan, much of which she hasn’t yet explored.

The idea of retiring, becoming a snowbird and then going to work might seem strange to some – especially since many snowbirds prefer to golf, line dance or socialize over cards.

But those who stay and volunteer their labour at the Okanagan Gleaners all say the experience is enjoyable, satisfying and that working to help others also makes them feel good.

“I’m a nurse,” said Bate. “Anything working with my hands and with people is a great fit for me.”

“I’ve been working since I was 11 years old,” said Allen Hall, who worked on farms before working in construction. “I’ve never been out of a job. So whether it’s gratis or whatever, I just enjoy it. I have to do something.”

By Richard McGuire