Give the needy food and other items they would actually like.

I know a girl who is a new Mom and has a 4 year old son as well.
SHE NEEDS FOOD … she has applied for food stamps but they are taking too long to expedite her request. She worked right up to the day of delivery and due to complications with a c section she can’t work for three months. She will be able to go back to her job but she can’t make it. I looked in her fridge and she has hardly nothing. Thank God she is breastfeeding the newborn. I am trying to get a mini food drive for her so please if you would like to help out contact me I would say that she could use food store gift cards or even if you look in your food pantry and you see a can of something you don’t want put it in a box and I will pick it up for her or you may come to my house.
This is not a scam or a hoax or someone who is trying to get off on easy street she is a good girl who has had a tough life with her Mother abandoning her and her brother at a young age she is a good young lady with morals and values and she wouldn’t ask for anything that is why I jumped in and I want to ask … WHY can’t we take care of our families in need in America first?
Thank you, Bless you and if you think I will stand for criticism BRING IT ON! This is something I think about every night before I go to sleep. (PS I have Lung Disease and I want to make a difference in this girls life before I go)

Thank you!

Every year for the past several years I have given to the United Way. Currently, I have $1.50 taken out of my paycheck each week. Although it seems a small sum, that is $78 per year. Again, that isn’t a large sum to many except to those without. I’m not sure how much has been collected this year, but dollar for dollar, my employer is matching it.

Recently, at the United Way fund raiser, the guy from the local food pantry which shares in the donations, told me that for every dollar they receive, they can buy 10 pounds of food for the needy in our community. The money also goes to Meals on Wheels which delivers healthy meals to the elderly and other shut-ins who are unable to cook for themselves. Although these are not the only recepients of the proceeds collected by United Way, I feel really good about how this money is spent.

While these may be sad times for some, Going Out Of Business signs provide an opportunity to really stretch your donations dollars, and perhaps your perception of what you can donate. There may be dozens of widgets that you know will be useful to someone somehow, so why not grab them when they are marked down. (there is a reason why we Americans have attics, basements, and garages – to store the stuff that we know we can donate someday)

Working 6 hours a week at the local Williams-Sonoma has provided a treasure trove of donations for the foodbank my church sponsors. A few months ago there were some drastically reduced kitchen towels because they were dirty – someone spilled something on kitchen towels on display. I got them for a steal, plus my employee discount, but didn’t know what I wanted to do with them.

About a month or so later I learned that most of the kitchen towels at the food pantry had disappeared. Voila! I saw a need and had the resources to fill it. Lots of Williams-Sonoma logos in teh Soup Kitchen now. :)

So the next time you see a sale sign, or even going out of business sign, drop in, you may be blessed as I was.

This past week there were coupons for a Free Can of Purina One Dog Food in my newspaper. It’s a no brainer that this will make it into the collection bins at church for the local shelter.

giving to the foodbank works, but I also give to the homeless. I saw an elderly homeless woman downtown last winter, sleeping in doorways everynight. It was getting cold, so I gave her a really warm sleeping bag. My little daughter was 11 at he time and with me, also had pity and gave the woman some of her own money. I want to teach my children compassion.

It was called America’s Killer Diet It was very disturbing and an eye opener. I’m not going into the details of the program but if anyone hears anything about it being repeated, I encourage you to watch it.

I’m sure my company will have a food drive soon and so will my grandson’s school. What I am asking from everyone who is thinking of donating nonparishable food items to their local food drives is this:
Do not give ramon noodles. Every needy person in America already has them.
Do give canned fruits and veggies, canned juices, peanut butter, cereals, canned or powdered milk, canned meats, and any other nutritious foods that you would purchase and eat yourself.

I just finished reading a few entries on some similar goals and it started me thinking. It is not too early to begin planning for those who are less fortunate than us for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Even if you do not have school age kids at home, check out the website of your local school and find out if they are having a food drive soon.

Why is your support of a school food drive important? Community support of school activities is one way to ensure that those activities will continue, AND, its a great way to really get people thinking at an early age about the importance of helping others.

This is someting I’m not going to stop doing, but I have definitley done it. It’s ongoing.

I was talking to a co-worker about how it was chilly in the mornings last week and he then asked if I needed a coat. I was confused, but I explained that I had I coat I just decided it wasn’t cold enough for me to need it. Then he ran out to his car and brought in some coats and told me I could have one of them. I figured it couldn’t hurt so I took one that I liked.

Anyhow I’m going to get rid of a coat I already have to replace it with. I’m sure with the cold weather coming soon someone will like having it.