A New Jersey man produced such a bountiful harvest in his vegetable garden that the neighbors received their fill and his wife wouldn't allow any more in the house. With 40 pounds of excess fresh produce that he didn't want to waste, he brought it to the local food pantry and homeless shelter. [UPDATE: Link fixed below.]

When he was told that his produce was the only fresh food the pantry would serve all year, he decided to create an online directory that would  connects gardeners nationwide with food pantries.

He realized that a Google search sometimes miss dozens of nearby food pantries locally, which might end up detering gardeners from donating.

AmpleHarvest.org fills that gap now, with information that could rescue fresh produce from a wasteful end and potentially save lives. Nearly 2,000 food pantries across the U.S. are now registered.

Gary Oppenheimer was nominated a CNN Hero.

WATCH the video below, or read the story at CNN…