Lifted
It’s amazing to me that there are folks that go hungry in this country. Food banks are busier than ever. And just one bag of food can help a family get to their next paycheck… or at least make the burden lighter.
It’s amazing to me that there are folks that go hungry in this country. Food banks are busier than ever. And just one bag of food can help a family get to their next paycheck… or at least make the burden lighter.
Well, sure Ryan feels lighter. He just dropped his ballast.
Hope those folks getting the heavy cans have can openers.
Our church would help out at the township food bank, which consolidated a lot of food for redistribution. (That made it very nice for large donations of the same kind of food, like bread from the nearby – but now closed – Wonder Bread bakery plant.)
The most-seen item? Those cans of white potatoes. I’ve never met anyone who actually ATE them, so they would donate them. How/Why they came about having them is beyond me. Still, a donation is a donation…
Canned goods are flippin’ heavy. They’re gonna be buff at the end of the month.
All I can think of when I see this strip today is this article I read a few days ago about how food drives aren’t exactly the best idea 🙁 http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/12/food_drives_charities_need_your_money_not_your_random_old_food_.single.html
Not sure if it makes sense though…
Hmmm… I don’t think I agree with that Slate article, Chase. It rings of “Bah Humbug!” Quite frankly, I’ve seen the good that the Food Pantry at my church accomplishes with donated goods. I believe that there is a balance in there somewhere. Monetary donations and non-perishables BOTH do their part…. but to poo poo canned goods, well, it’s just silly.
Jack… I can see Randie pumping tin cans of pinto beans and sauerkraut.
Pete… hmmm… I imagine those little potatoes are good if you put them in a soup. Hmmm… now I want soup (it’s cold and rainy here today).
stick… my dad used to have what is called a John Wayne can-opener… a little thing that the military guys would carry with them, usually on their dog tags. You were never without yer tags or your can-opener whilst in the field.
Hmm. Found an ad for a neat can opener. My mom deals with arthritis and struggles with her clamp and twist style opener, but refuses to clutter her counter with offered electric varieties. I got her an electric last year that didn’t seem to work right and she had me return it. So here’s this restaurant supply place advertising one of those hand held scissor-clamp style openers with a giant hand-crank on the side in place of the little twisty knob. Will pick it up today.
I’ve use those JW openers on camping trips. They work but are slow and call for strong wrists.
I know, stick… you could sprain a hand working those little things… for years, that’s all we had at the Spicer residence… until my mom bought an electric one. I have a crank one now that I like. It does the job without hurting yourself.
I’ve used the can opener a lot. Even on the old C-Rations; now called MREs (Meals Ready To Eat). I wonder if the US Armed Forces donate those? They’re really tasty. We’d get them in Arizona for the wildfire crews. At least up until the 70s, the state could impress (draft) any male Arizona citizen 14 and over into the wildfire service for up to three days. Being untrained, you’d work well off the fire lines, in logistics and support. I was never drafted but always hoped I would be.
How did I get onto THAT tangent? Oh… yeah… the US Military provided C-Rations, only they were called K-Rations.
Pete,
If the packages were marked as K-Rations you better check the date stamp.
In some respects, money can be better than any material object, since you can turn it into anything that can be bought, but food can definitely be handed out.
Those who are worried can ask the food bank what is lacking. My mother heard about one where they always got pasta, not so much sauce; peanut butter, but no jelly; canned veggies without canned fruit; and no breakfast things.
But I was discussing this online elsewhere, and a woman commented on how her food bank always has pasta sauce, because they get all the seconds from the factory just a few blocks away. So check.
While I understand Chase and Mary’s points, that many prepackaged foods may not be the most healthy for folks (potato chips, sodas) and that charities can make use of money…if you give food, you know that the charity is getting that food. A few years ago there was alot of flack about how much the head of a charity was making here in Sacramento. The charity, Pride Industries, is a big one and employs handicapped and mentally challenged folks. They do simple tasks, get paid a bit over minimum wage…and the head of the charit??? Brought in over $500,000 in a given year. OK he claimed that he got a bonus and that his income is normally in the mid three to four hundred thousand range…but c’mon!!! That’s alot of funds donated by good intentioned folks getting sucked up by the big boss. I say, give’em cans.
I like the “what do you guys need?” idea. That’s a step above… finding out what the need is, and filling it. Most Food Drives will give you guidelines. I always figure that beans are a staple. Pinto beans, white beans, black beans… Heck, I eat them all the time! And… jelly.
Potato chips? Soda? Have you ever looked at a place where they are gathering food for a food bank. People tend to be so very nutrition conscious that they don’t even bring canned fruit.