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(Credit: Vera Chinese file photo)

Sang Lee Farms had an abundant potato crop in 2014 and needs your help to distribute the bountiful harvest to needy families this Thanksgiving.

The organic Peconic farm is accepting money to help cover labor costs associated with digging and washing 2,000 pounds of potatoes or volunteers to help unearth the spuds. The initiative, dubbed the “Dig to Donate or Donate to Dig” campaign, will provide food pantries with a ton of a starch with a long shelf life.

“We had a really good potato crop,” said Sang Lee farm manager Lucy Senesac. “When we did the math, we realized we had a lot left. It was kind of a new idea. We were stuck with all these potatoes and we thought, ‘What can we do with them?’”

Sang Lee usually loses a lot of its potato crop, grown like all its produce without the aid of common pesticides, to pests. Bugs usually find their way to Sang Lee’s field as so many conventional growers spray their crops, making it unattractive for insects, Senesac explained.

That was not the case this year, Senesac said, and the farm will likely have a hard time selling the extra inventory.

The yield from four 500 foot rows of the potato field will be donated to local food pantries and the Long Island-wide food bank Island Harvest, she said.

Volunteers will meet on Thursday Nov. 20 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m at the farm’s Cutchogue field.

Bring shoes that can get dirty and gloves, Senesac said. For the exact location, Senesac asks that you email her at [email protected].

To make a donation, visit Sang Lee’s Go Fund Me page. Sang Lee is looking to raise $1,000 through the campaign.

The potatoes will be donated in time for Thanksgiving.

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