A community of volunteer fruit pickers has helped deliver roughly 300 kilograms of choice Central Otago apricots straight from the tree to those in need.

More than 20 crates of apricots that otherwise may have gone to waste were plucked from an orchard in Pisa on Tuesday (February 24).

The orchard owners, who asked not to be named, have opened the trees to volunteers for the past three seasons, with the fruit collected and redistributed by food charity KiwiHarvest.

Patricia Johnston, who coordinated Tuesday’s pick, said the aim was simple: make sure good food did not go to waste.

“It’s really about rescuing the food,” she said.

“It’s my thing - just not seeing the fruit go to waste.”

Ten or so people responded to a Facebook invitation to help the day prior to the pick, some staying for hours, others popping in briefly to fill a crate or two.

Volunteers were also encouraged to take fruit home for themselves to eat, preserve, or share with neighbours.

Apricots ripe for picking at a once commercial orchard block near Cromwell. Image: Supplied

Patricia said several of the pickers were new to Cromwell, including one man who had only arrived a month earlier.

“I said, ‘Have you picked apricots before?’, and he said, ‘No, just mangos!’,” she said.

“They just wanted to do something for the community.”

Patricia said some of the fruit would be shared fresh, while other batches were likely to be preserved through church and community groups and redistributed through food banks.

A spokesperson for KiwiHarvest said 16 charities in the region were likely to benefit from the donation from these “local legends”, including Cromwell Food Bank, Cromwell Youth Trust, Ūrūru Whenua in Alexandra and Alexandra Youth Trust.

The spokesperson said Patricia's community pick was unique but seven other orchards in the area also regularly donated excess stock, meaning the charity could “almost guarantee some form of fruit to those who need it most for most of the year”.

“It’s amazing to see this fruit do what it’s intended to do and strengthen the community and our region.”

They said the donated fruit also helped offset a local shortfall in vegetable supply, with some produce swapped with KiwiHarvest’s Invercargill branch in return for Southland-grown vegetables.

Another apricot pick is likely next week, depending on ripening conditions and confirmation from the orchard owners.

Patricia said details would be shared locally once confirmed, with the timing designed to align with KiwiHarvest’s collection schedule.

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