>Hi Folks,

The Tortoise Always Wins

On June 16th I am meeting with the Sam Hughes Neighborhood Association and I’m thinking about ways to excite and engage them in One Can A Week. I need to find a couple of people who don’t mind a little selfless commitment. Unfortunately, the physical image below is what puts a crimp in the conversation. Of course it’s solitary work, but helping your neighbors help the Community Food Bank is a feeling that is really hard to describe. Also, I like the responsibility and people counting on me. Maybe I could tell them that their arms will get a lot stronger. Or they’ll drink a lot more water. Or it’s only 3 ½ hours of work on Sunday. Or some people in trouble won’t be hungry and afraid. I’ll think of something, after all, I have all of you to point to as a wonderful example of making a difference. (Photo by Neto Portillo)

Safeway Karma
Since most of the food contributions occurred between 1:30 and 3:00 pm I decided to change my start hour from 11:30 am to 1 pm and go to 4. Well, that threw off the whole karma thing.

Lots of people moved in and out of Safeway and the parking lots was very busy but customers only shopped for a few minutes and left with just a couple of bags. By 3 pm I had only a dozen cans or so in the collection box. And surprisingly, no one stopped to just chat. On prior Saturdays I had at least 3 or 4 people strike up a conversation.

On the other side of the entrance, the lemonade stand and the hot dog and tortilla stand were both collecting donations for Prostate Cancer and they were not fairing well either. I could understand why the hot dog and tortilla stand did very little business because don’t hot dogs cause prostate cancer? It was just a thought.

Also the wind blew constantly. So much so I could not put up the umbrella on the Cabriolet. Then about 2:30 pm the store manager, Bill—not Dan, he’s the assistant manager I found out—came over to me and said a bit awkwardly that he wanted me to take a month break. He added that the Prostate Cancer campaign was their major push right now and they wanted to focus on that.

My New York Lesson
Every time I got a no on one of my publishing projects I would call someone right away and get another appointment. I don’t like to dwell on the negative. I guess what helped me arrive at this realization was my dad. Once after I experienced a particularly painful failure he told me if it were easy, anybody could do it.

About 4 years into my authoring career I had a list of 32 book ideas that were all turned down in a very short period of time. Instead of sitting around with that sinking “why me” feeling, I called someone to move things forward. In a few months I placed maybe 15 of the 32 books at other publishers.

So after lunch on Monday I walked into Bashas’ on Kolb and Sunrise and made a presentation to set up One Can A Week next Saturday. Tom, the Floor Supervisor—assistant manager in other supermarkets—said the corporate offices make such decisions and he will get back to me soon. It it’s a no; I know where I’m going next.

Summer Sums
This week we collected 156 lbs. of food including lots of huge cereal boxes. This is down a bit from the previous weeks but we also collected $57. That’s up a bit from the previous weeks.

I have an idea summer vacations are effecting the collections but many of our neighbors are planning ahead and giving us cash donations or boxes of food. No matter, we are doing just fine because our neighbors are thinking Community Food Bank whether they are in town or not.

Tucson Roller Derby Fun

Barbara on Miles who is a member of a Roller Derby team and her son PJ invited me to the Tucson Sports Center at 1065 W. Grant this Saturday, June 13th at 6 pm. They want me to set up my One Can A Week table and collect a whole bunch of food. PJ and his mom made the arrangements weeks ago and told all of the players and fans to bring food donations for the Community Food Bank. I have never seen a Roller Derby live but after Saturday I can’t say that anymore. PJ who is 12 years old is setting up his own One Can A Week food collection boxes in a few downtown Tucson businesses. If you want to join us, just bring a can of food to the Tucson Sports Center, and please, watch out for the flying elbows. (Photo from TucsonRollerDerby.com)

See you next Sunday.

Peter

>Hi Folks,

The End of Hunger in Tucson
For nearly 6 months now I have been talking about collecting so much food weekly for the Community Food Bank that we ostensively end hunger in our city. Before it was just talk and lots of work ahead, however, after my breakfast meeting with the Kino Rotary Club in South Tucson, talk may turn to reality.

Debbie Haddock who presided over the breakfast meeting and Corina Baca told me about a Tucson Rotary Club strategy where all 20 clubs would join forces to help a single cause. And for everyone at the meeting the Community Food Bank was at the top of his or her favorite charity list. In fact, each of the 10 attendees brought in a can of food for me to add to our weekly donation plus $13.00 in cash.

Projects That Solve Problems
Before I got into the crux of One Can A Week, I told them that in my career I mostly created projects that answered specific questions. Two of the examples I used to explain my M.O. more clearly were “The Misspeller’s Dictionary” published by Quadrangle, The New York Times Book Company and Top Tag Pet ID. “The Misspeller’s Dictionary” contains misspelling so you can look up the word like you think it is spelled…which spell check killed, thank you very much. Top Tag is a universal USB flash drive pet ID tag worn on a dog’s collar that contains all of the pet’s contact and care information.

So it naturally follows that the One Can A Week neighborhood food donation program is designed to achieve an explicit goal unlike most charitable endeavors fostered by prestigious organizations such as the Rotary. This idea of really doing something that solves a problem was intriguing to everyone in the room.

Safeway Saturdays and More
I then told them about my Safeway Saturdays and how it could be expanded to Safeway Saturdays, Sundays and Coupon Wednesdays. All it takes is a corps of energetic volunteers who can spend 3 hours a week standing behind a table with a food donation box and say, “Hi, how are you doing today?” (I never ask for donations…my signage and car do that for me.)

And with just 10 Safeways, 10 Fry’s, 8 Bashas’ and 4 Trader Joe’s, the challenge to mobilize the volunteers needed is small but the rewards are great. Nearly everyone in Tucson visits one of these supermarkets at least once a week. Interestingly enough all of these supermarkets are donating food to the Community Food Bank weekly right now through their back doors. However, I said, a huge, untapped source of food donations for the Community Food Bank is at the front door of Tucson’s major supermarkets.

To drive home the point even more, I mentioned that the manager of the Broadway and Campbell Safeway loves One Can A Week because it is the only charity that pays rent for its weekly spot in front of the store. We encourage additional purchases that their customers would otherwise not have made. Don’t you just love capitalism and helping people in trouble!

Noodles Weigh More Than You Think
About half way through my collection route Sunday I noticed that there were an abundance of noodle, spaghetti and macaroni packages. Since weight is the key gauge at the Community Food Bank I was a bit concerned that this week’s donations would not measure up. At the Monday morning weigh-in I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the Miles donations totaled 228 lbs. That’s the second highest amount to date. I love being wrong when it comes to guessing food weights.

Little Safeway Odds and Ends
A gentleman wearing a paper name tag and carrying a drink and a can of beans walked up to our table. He handed me the can and as he walked away said over his shoulder, “Your sign worked, I was just going to buy a drink.”

About every 40 minutes I have to go to the car and rewind the music tape. On one of the trips I noticed a large can of peas in the back seat. Even the Cabriolet is proving to be irresistible to people and their urge to help.

See you next Sunday.

Peter