A police officer checks out the abandoned chase car that stalled in front of Bill’s and Jamie’s home on S. Cherry Street. The driver was apprehended two hours later after dogs found him hiding in the bushes a short distance from the crash site.        - Photo by Gracie -

Daniel and his girl friend Gracie had no idea they would be the first on the scene of an incredibly loud accident when they decided to check the air in their tires at Circle K around 12:18 am Saturday morning. They heard a bumper scrape the curb at the Axis Food Mart across the street and when they turned around they saw everything as if they were spectators at a demolition derby.

The speeding car veered across the street towards them and jumped the curb. Next it wiped out the mailbox and stoop on its way to crushing Jamie’s truck fender. The final slam was Bill’s car parked at the curb. The driver immediately jumped out the immobile car and ran south on Cherry Street into the darkness.

Within 20 seconds the police were on the scene because they were chasing the “good looking, well built guy” as Maen described him. Couched in Maen’s words of praise is his disappointment in the individual who obviously has so many advantages yet still behaves so badly.

The police were right behind him but they would not drive like him, shooting across Broadway at a high rate of speed. They paused briefly to make sure there were no cars in their path.

The chopper was brought in along with the K-9 Corps to look for the guy. After an hour or so of the circling spotlight—which most of us in the neighborhood were awakened by—the dogs did their job and found him hiding under a bush.

Maen heard the crash from his store and when he saw Jamie and Bill were involved, he started calling their number while standing outside their home. On the third try, Bill picked up. He said he was slow to answer because he’s a sound sleeper. Sirens, crunching metal and cell phone ring tones. I guess so!

The concern Maen had was that both Jamie and Bill were leaving on a trip to Utah to witness the eclipse. If they didn’t take care of their rides now, they would never make it.

In no time at all, Bill had the insurance companies on the line and set up a rental car and a tow truck. The next day they were off on schedule but before going they thanked Maen for being such a great neighbor and looking out for them.

Two Weeks Ago on Broadway

A neighbor with a flat right rear tire was making a left turn slowly onto Vine Street and apparently did not see the motorcycle rider heading east toward her.

Maen and I were out in front of his store chatting when we heard a horrific crash and turned in the direction of the sound just in time to see a helmeted and leather clad rider fly through the air, land hard and roll three times. Maen’s security camera caught what we saw on tape but I don’t need to see it. I can play back that awful image in my head any time I want.

Later that night the rider was released from the hospital. Some good news at least.

One Week Ago on Broadway

Two homeless men were crossing the street at Highland Avenue when the more fit gentleman told his friend to “run.” He didn’t or couldn’t and the approaching car ran over him. Daniel, who also works at the Axis Food Mart, talked to the survivor the other day and learned that the man who was run over died.

A 30 MPH Zone But Who Cares

The three block stretch of Broadway from Campbell to Highland Avenue is more than dangerous, it’s deadly. On Saturday I sat first at the light on Broadway to make a left onto Campbell. Once in the morning on my way to the Rincon Market for One Can A Week and once after lunch to go buy some dog food.

In the morning a pink scooter with a helmetless young woman driver and a helmeted male friend on the back kept encouraging me make a left against the light. With the top down, the woman’s “Come on,” and “dumb ass” words were quite audible but I could tell she had no line of sight for oncoming traffic. She was positioned on the right side of my car. If I weren’t there holding fast against her insults, she would have become someone else’s problem.

In the afternoon, I was again waiting for the green arrow when a guy on a bicycle peddled against the traffic to catch a bus. His eyes were on the bus, not the oncoming cars. For sure I thought he was going to get hit. He stopped just in time in front of me. When the green arrow showed up I let him go first.

Every time you get on Broadway leaving the neighborhood or coming home, please pay close attention to what is happening around you. Just some neighborly advice because I don’t want to see you end up in a blog like this.

The Anatomy of a Late Night DUI Chase

Maen said that on many a cool evening he has seen his neighbors at 121 S. Cherry sitting on the steps enjoying a cigarette and a cold beer. Good thing is was not so coolish early Saturday morning.

Imagine the force that caused Jamie’s truck to be thrown out of position and crunched like a soda can. Normally his truck sits in a little bit and dead center in the driveway.

Some Real Food Bargains Out There

Recently Fry’s has been advertising Van Camp’s Pork and Beans for 29 cents if you buy ten cans. Maen used his food bank collection money and bought 70 of them. Do the math, that’s a bit over 20 bucks and a whole bunch of hungry kids will be fed this summer.

We collected a total of 244lbs. of food with 70 lbs. coming from the Axis Food Mart. The money we donated amounted to $59.50, a $50.00 check and $9.50 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

Three or four months into our program, Pauline Hechler, the former Director of Development at the Community Food Bank suggested I tell our One Can A Week story to the folks at Quaker Oats. Within a few weeks I got a grant that paid for signage on the Cabriolet and our collection carts plus a little gas money.

Two years later Pauline and the Food Bank helped pay for 60 or half of the One Can A Week can openers we passed out to our very supportive neighbors.

Kim Fuhrig, our 13th Street volunteer provided a number of free car wash coupons so I can keep our Cabrio icon sparkling.

In 2009, John Gallow, a friend and client was buying a new car for his daughter who had just graduated from college. Instead of turning in her 1992 Ford Taurus on a new purchase, John decided to give me that well-maintained auto to help with deliveries to the Food Bank. Before the Taurus gave up the ghost recently, it diligently carried over 19 tons of food to the Food Bank.

A few weeks ago, my dear friend Beth Haggerty gave me three old laptops to fix or recycle. The last one I pulled out of its carrying case was an IBM ThinkPad with Windows 98. Immediately I though of another long-time friend whom I hadn’t seen in years.

Robb Goff and his lovely girl friend Lorna were my neighbors when I lived on Vernice Street near Kolb in the mid to late ‘90s. He used to fix ThinkPads and only ThinkPads to sell on eBay. How could I forget that? So when I saw that boxy black brick I sent him an email.

Robb’s reply a few days later explained he has moved on to things other than ThinkPads like real estate, and refitting his new home with all of the renewable and sustainable materials of a “very green house.” He is even doing all of the contracting himself. That’s the one thing I really like about Robb, he always goes with the flow. Back in the day, he was one of the first sellers on eBay and into computers at the dawning of Atari.

On my side of the catch-up email I talked a little bit about One Can A Week and that we met when I was new to Tucson and just 53, some 17 years ago.

I thought that would be the end of it for a while until maybe I ran into something solar that might interest Robb. I was wrong.

Five days later Robb sent me a very touching email.

“Wonderful blog. I read about your 1 can a week idea. This is very nice. I have been giving directly to the community food bank. I also give to the council of Indian Nations/Apache Junction. I would like to ask you if I may donate directly to you. Gas ain’t cheap and your efforts, not spiritually, may go unpaid at times. Pete, can I send you a check to help? I would like you to use the funds as you see fit to aid you on your quest. Just give me your address. I would be glad to help the community directly and that my friend is you! Just send me your address and I can make the check out to you if that is OK. Happy birthday too!”

What got to me most is he remembered personal things about me, too, like I do whatever is necessary to move things forward even if I have to spend what little I have.

Two days later I opened the mailbox to find a check from Robb. It paid for the second half of the poster printing job and a whole bunch of future gas to deliver our donations to the Community Food Bank.

I’m plugging away on One Can A Week and enjoying every minute, but Robb’s and my other benefactors’ thoughtfulness, and more important, understanding, has reenergized this lumbering tortoise.

All Around Great Week

There was so much food and money this Sunday I had to ask my friend Frank Campillo—who lives on Manlove Street and owns a big red Toyota Tundra truck—to help me make my Monday morning run to the Community Food Bank. The Sunny D from Maen’s Axis Food Mart accounted for 460 lbs. of the weight.

We collected a total of 652 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $92.00, two checks for $80.00 and $12.00 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

How quickly a good meal can turn things around for people … and their very best friends. Six weeks ago Adam (left) and Molly were in a dire struggle with the food they ate. Now Adam barks because he feels so fine. And Molly? Well, his delight is nothing but sweet music to her ears.

When research scientists discover early on in an experiment that the remedy they are testing is working way beyond expectations, they stop the experiment and make the information public. This doesn’t happen very often but it does happen.

For the past 30 years, I have lived with a total of seven West Highland White Terriers (Westies). Of the seven, four had food allergies. It is an inherent trait of the breed. Consequently, I am very into reading food labels and researching dog food brands. Anything that doesn’t start with a protein is out.

I have tried most upscale brands at the OK Feed Store on Ft. Lowell and most other national brands such as Purina, Science Diet, etc. Some work for awhile until my pups loose their tolerance to the food. I even tried frozen and home cooked food. All of this attention to ingredients led me to the conclusion that it is the formula, not the ingredients or the amounts. Besides, I think feeding 100% of a dog’s or cat’s daily requirements at every single meal just can’t be that healthy. I don’t eat like that and most humans don’t eat like that so pet food allergies might have a greater chance to turn on when you feed them a diet packed to the gills with everything they supposedly need in life.

A year ago, Nature’s Variety introduced a Limited Ingredient diet with turkey or lamb as the single protein. (There are other limited ingredient brands but Nature’s Variety is truly limited. See Dog Advisor review.)

I put Adam and Molly on the diet six weeks ago right after I discovered the food. Immediately I could tell this may work because they did not increase their itching. Adam licks his chest and hind legs eliminating the hair and darkening the exposed skin. He also scratches lots of hair off his back. Molly mostly scratches her face and her back and her eyes are watery. (Can’t see any of that hair loss in the photos taken last Thursday because their hair is back with a vengeance.)

Adam soon stopped itching altogether and started to gain weight. He eats a little more than a cup a day which has always been his normal amount of daily intake. However, he had been skinny all of his life and his hair fine. At 19.8 lbs. now, not 17 lbs., he’s looking like a mature male Westie and his hair is course. Perfect.

Molly is eating exactly one cup a day (her normal) and she lost weight. She went form 22 lbs. down to 18.2 lbs. which is better for her arthritic limbs. She jumps up on the bed more easily now.

I’m writing about my pets’ food adventures this week, not mine, because I know a lot of pet owners have varying degrees of dietary problems with their pets and they are always concerned but do not know what to do. Like the delighted research scientists I mention above, I wanted to get this wonderful news out as soon as possible. To see Adam, the hardest hit of the two, doing so well, has brought more than a tear or two to my eyes over the past few weeks.

I suggest you try Nature’s Variety Turkey Limited Ingredient—or Lamb—because if my chronically sick pups recovered on this diet, imagine if you only have an overweight pup?

Nature’s Variety Limited Ingredients is sold at the OK Feed Store on Ft. Lowell near Palo Verde. Petco sells the brand also but they may have to special order the Limited Ingredients diet for you.

May all your furry best friends be as well as my Adam and Molly.

Heavier Than It Looks

When I use the Cabriolet to transport the food to the Community Food Bank I’m not sure of the total weight. The Taurus’ large trunk made it easier to quesstimate. But now that the Taurus is in car heaven, I fret every Monday morning that there’s not enough food.

Even on the push up the ramp to the warehouse door with the huge door jam, I’m thinking, “not enough.” But reality hits as I try to yank the front end of the cart up off the ground to clear the 3” hurdle. Two or three times I yank on the cart handle but to no avail. To save my back I go around to the front of the cart and lift it over the lip. It weighs a ton and I’m lovin’ it.

We collected a total of 192 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $6.00 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

Undergraduate Research Day at Concord University, Athens, West Virginia where our One Can A Week program was implemented and the results studied by a political science class. Left: Crystal Jones, Kurtis White, Jessica Fowler, Anthony Heltzel, Tabatha Whited (in the back), Emily Fridenmaker and Ivan Deyanov. Not pictured: Brooke Bailey, Alex Collins and instructor Jim White).

What started as a political science class assignment for Emily Fridenmaker at Concord University turned out to confirm that One Can A Week not only feeds lots of needy folks, it also builds a sense of community at the same time. The first person to recognize this phenomenon was Brett Weisel at FeedingAmerica.org. He called just to give me that incite in 2009. My goal was to collect food for needy families in Tucson but learning about the other ramifications of the program encouraged me even more.

Based on Emily’s findings, we know for sure that organizing One Can A Week as designed, generates similar results in other neighborhoods around the country. (I use the phrase “as designed” to mean personal contact with each and every neighbor and then weekly contact with each participant. Others have tried variations of the program such as having neighbors drop off food but those modifications are not sustainable. When participants are required to do more than just place a can or two on their porches each Sunday they loose interest in the program.)

 Last Wednesday I received an email from Emily that included three terrific photos and the following:

 “I just wanted to update you on our project as we are wrapping it up. We presented the program at our Undergraduate Research Day last week…

“We have collected almost 900 pounds of food (we have 2 weeks before graduation, and I’m predicting that we will hit 1000 before we are done!) and our Lions’ Club is all set to take over the project and keep the program going indefinitely.”

I asked Emily to send me an Executive Summary of her findings so when I did not hear back from her I took that to mean, “Enlarge the photos and read the boards, dummy.”

Below is Emily’s and her team’s method and assessment of their project.

Close-up of the Results section in the Concord University student’s display.

“Method

A list of participants from the Athens neighborhood was compiled. Each household was called every Saturday as a reminder. The neighborhood was split into three separate routes, and every Sunday two people collected the food from the porches along their assigned route. Flyers were left at each house notifying the participant that the food had been picked up. The food was weighed and the amounts were recorded. All food was then taken to the Bluefield Union Mission in Bluefield, WV.“Figure 1 – Food was collected and weighed each week. The amount collected stabilized around 140 pounds of food. The number of households participating was also recorded each week. This number varies greatly week to week and is largely influenced by weather and holidays.”

(NOTE: We experience no difference in amounts collected in the Miles neighborhood during bad weather or on holidays. And most folks participate week after week. These two variations between cities may be due to our very consistent pickup schedule.)

A photo of the gigantic three-panel display created by thestudent poly-sci team at Concord University.

 

 “Figure 2 – The participation rate has dropped to approximately 50% of the initial participants. The Athens community has participated at a rate of 15% – 20%.

“Figure 3 – While some households did not participate at all after agreeing to be placed on our contact list, most participate 3, 4 and 5 our of 5 weeks.”

(NOTE: With respect to our 50% participation, we have had a few opt out but we replaced many as new neighbors move into the Miles neighborhood.)

 “Figure 4 – Few households donate only one can per week. The pounds per household average was consistent at 2.5 -3 pounds.”

(NOTE: A majority of participants in the Miles neighborhood also donate more than one food item per week.)

“Conclusion

A two-tailed t-test showed that the difference in giving between Tucson, Arizona and Athens, West Virginia is not statistically significant.”

 (NOTE: A two-tailed t-test is a statistical tool based on either end of a bell curve. If you want to read something where you understand the meaning of every word written but you have no idea of what they speak, click on the link above.)

“Because of this, we accepted the null hypothesis and concluded that there is no difference between One Can A Week donation is Athens, West Virginia and in Tucson, Arizona. This similarity is likely due to the similarities in the two neighborhoods, specifically the population sizes, median incomes and ages and the fact that they are both university towns.”

What I found thrilling with Emily’s program was that many participants gave more than one can a week (Figure 4), there was consistent participation (Figure 4) and the participation rate was approximately 50% (Figure 2). We in the Miles neighborhood experience the same rate which is high for any community project.

The only suggestion I would make to Emily and any others who may want to initiate a One Can A Week program is don’t call because that’s a bit irritating. Friends, family and sales people call on the phone. Guess which one they consider you?

Just knock on the door each week and build a relationship. That is so much better.

Big “Sorry We Missed You” Week

Lots of folks took to the street, the pools and the sunshine Sunday. And those who were home, lost track of time and forgot to put their donation out. No matter, we still collected 24 lbs. under our average and with so many Sorry cards hanging on the front door, next Sunday is going to be nothing short of great. Guilt is a wonderful thing, sometimes.

We collected a total of 144 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $7.00 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

(Not unlike The Magnificent Men and TheirFlying Machines but more down to earth.)

A small piece of history was made Sunday when Steve Fuhrig gave his wife an electric walking wagon with a stunningly huge umbrella. No longer will Kym have to carry 4 bottles of water, wear a large floppy hat and squint as she picks up her Sunday One Can A Week donation in the hot desert sun.

On a number of occasions Kym looked a bit overwhelmed by the heat and the workout she gets dragging that loaded yellow wagon slowly behind her. (Her two young grand daughters riding in the wagon along with the food doesn’t help the situation much either.)

But today Kym was next to perky, dry and smiling. It was apparent her new eco-approved electric walking wagon brought some of the fun back into collecting her donations. And it brought back her happy face on a very hot Sunday.

Why is an electrified walking wagon a tiny historic event? Simple. It’s funny, clever and lots of neighbors will want to take it for a walk. This gives our One Can A Week food donation program the kind of attention it deserves.

Go to blog

Surprise emails really make my day. I can’t wait for the next one, but in the meantime I’ll tell you about the email I got last Wednesday evening just before dinner. The subject line put me on guard because it appeared to be a little vague like spam stuff but as soon as I saw who it was from I hurriedly clicked it open.

 Sandy Scott is the Acting Director of Public Affairs and Senior Communications Advisor for the Corporation for National and Community Services. That’s Senior Corps and AmeriCorps. That’s Washington, DC. I almost thought I should stand up to read his email. But I didn’t.

 “Greetings Peter –

 “It’s been a while since we’ve been in touch. I want you to know I read your updates every week. It is inspiring to see the impact of your effort, both in the Miles neighborhood and the similar efforts you have inspired across the country. You’re a great story teller, and your efforts are making a difference for hungry families in Tucson.

 “As you probably know, this is National Volunteer Week (April 15-21), a time to recognize and celebrate the nation’s volunteers. Here is a Presidential proclamation and a White House blogpost from our new CEO Wendy Spencer, a lifelong volunteer and volunteer manager.

 “As part of National Volunteer Week, we would like to invite you to submit a guest blog post for our National Service blog at http://www.serve.gov./ This can be 400-500 words, and should recount how you started One Can a Week, include your results to date (pounds of food and cash raised), something on how the idea has spread, and any observations about how one person can make a difference.

 “In order to fit this in during National Volunteer Week, we would love to have it by the end of the day tomorrow, if possible, or Thursday morning. I know you are a strong writer, and have written extensively on One Can a Week, so hopefully this won’t be a heavy lift.”

 Well, that made me nervous. I had dinner took the dogs for a walk and sat down to write. Sandy’s instructions were soexplicit I finished about 9 and sent the blog off with several photos. Then I got more nervous waiting to hear back.

 Thursday evening I received another email saying he liked the piece but wanted to make some changes. That was fine with me. But instead of waiting for the suggestions I told him he should make the revisions he wanted to comply with the web site’s style and formatting. I’m not married to my words, just One Can A Week. They’re professional editors so I just stepped out of the way.

 Late afternoon on Friday, Sandy contacted me again.

 “Peter – Your blog post is up. You can access it on http://www.serve.gov/ and the direct link is here: http://www.serve.gov/stories_detail.asp?tbl_servestories_id=795

 “Your story is a powerful reminder of what one person or one small group of people can accomplish when they stand up and make a difference. Thank you for your service, and keep up the great work.

 “Have a great weekend

 “Best,

 “Sandy”

Right now there are 26 Likes, 11 Tweets and 0 Share for our One Can A Week post. If we could get just one new neighborhood somewhere in the country collecting food for needy families in their community it would be well worth all the hurry up and jangled nerves.

Everybody’s Back

Two weeks ago the Sunflower Farmers Market on Swan and Speedway started collecting food again. Maria in the Catalina Vista Neighborhood discovered the Food Bank closes at 5 pm, but her ride can’t make it before then. Maybe when she gets her driver’s license, she can take control of her deliveries. Until then, I’ll drop off all 4 donations (Rincon Market, Sunflower, Catalina and Miles) on Monday. This week the combined weight was 390 lbs. Nice.

 We collected a total of 168 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $59.50, a $50.00 check and $9.50 in cash.

 See you Sunday,

 Peter

Bill deserves top billing even though he did not ask for it.

The Cabrio and the Caballero who started it all.

Without much ado, Molly Thrasher, videographer for Try Freedom sent a rough cut of her One Can A Week documentary to me and Emily Fridenmaker who requested the footage for presentation she and her classmates were making to the Lion’s Club in Concord, West Virginia.

The deadline was tight but Molly came through early and allows us to see a preview of her gentle and emotionally powerful style. She encourages her characters to say their impromptu lines as if they are telling a story that just happened yesterday. All of the images are so darn fresh and sincere. Bill Carnegie, CEO of the Community Food Bank, describes how he was introduced to One Can A Week and although it’s been three years, he remembers all of his thoughts and reactions to this simple idea.

It’s now 8:30 pm Monday night and Emily just sent me an email recounting her presentation to the Lion’s Club earlier today.

“Our presentation went great! The video was really fantastic, we so appreciate you guys putting that together. We have collected almost 750 pounds of food in the past 5 weeks, and it looks like the program is going to continue through the Lion’s Club after we graduate in May. Thank you again for all of your help!

“Emily”

Below is a brief description on how to link to the rough cut of Molly’s One Can A Week video. If this 2 minute video is any indication of what the final documentary will portray, we are in for a wonderful ride.

The link will bring you to a page on YouSendIt and a download button. DOWNLOAD One Can A Week video.

The dialog box that opens allows you to immediately Run the video or Save it to your hard drive. You may want to Save the video to your Desktop to review later with family and friends.

SPECIAL NOTE: The video is a .mov file. If your media player cannot play the file, just download QuickTime 7 for PC or Mac. It’s an Apple product so it is very safe.

Do Not Turn Off the Cereal, Fruit and Peanut Butter Machines
Summer is upon us and hungry kids will soon not have their schools to turn to for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And with the Community Food Bank experiencing cuts from all its food sources those kids are heading for trouble.

Spread the word and see if you can encourage all you family and friends to help us meet the demand.

We collected a total of 170 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $31.50, a $25.00 check and $6.50 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

Concord University in Athens, W. VA.

On March 12th I received an email from a college student in West Virginia.

“My name is Emily and I attend a college in a small town called Athens in southern West Virginia. I am in a political science class this semester and we are trying to implement a One Can A Week program in the town.”

That day I sent Emily a bunch of information and then forgot about it. Friday I got another email from Emily.

“We have implemented the program and have collected food for the past 3 weeks. We have about 90 regular participants and we have collected almost 500 pounds of food in all.

“We are presenting our program to our local Lion’s club in a week so that they can continue the project once we have graduated in May, and we were wondering if you guys had any videos that we could present to them.”

The Lion’s Club holds its biweekly meetings in the Concord United Methodist Church in Athens. On Monday, April 16th, Emily and her classmates will present their One Can A Week program to the club and hopefully the members will pick up the gauntlet.

We don’t have a video at this time, but we (meaning Molly and her crew) are working very diligently on one so I brought her into the email loop. Molly responded to Emily in a heartbeat.

Hi Emily,

Thanks for your interest in One Can A Week. It has become an issue near and dear to my heart as well.

I’m afraid that is not very much time for me to put a rough cut together. I am still shooting the interviews and have not even gone through my existing footage. I will try to get you a short clip of Peter’s interview and the director of the Food Bank. At least that way you can have something to show, but it will not be a complete overview and it will be very rudimentary.

I hope the meeting will be a success for you. Good luck. I’ll be in touch.

Molly

Email is so great especially when dealing with pros. Molly got right back to Emily and will have something ready for the April 16th meeting. But what impressed me most was Molly’s comment that One Can A Week is “near and dear to her heart.” It is one thing to have a documentarian to tell your story but quite another to have such a pro on your side. We’re quite lucky and I have to say, I’m quite grateful.

New, Rosemary designed Community Food Bank collection box at the Sunflower Farmers Market on Speedway and Swan.

Rosemary Chacon, the Events/Marketing coordinator at the Speedway Sunflower Farmers Market wasn’t kidding those many months ago when she said she loves helping the Community Food Bank and will bring back the collection box as soon as possible. On Tuesday, I got her anticipated email.

“Hi Peter,
It seems like it has been a long time since we’ve touched base, I know that I have been extra busy as I’m sure you have been also.

I have a full box of food items in the box up front for you when you get a chance to come this way.

Have a good day and I’ll see you soon,

Rosemary “

In keeping with Rosemary’s strategy, the box is small and attractive. Also it is in a very high traffic area where customers see it coming and going.

The first pickup the next day netted 76 lbs. and Saturday’s pickup amounted to 6 lbs. That’s 86 lbs in one week.

Welcome back, Rosemary, we really did miss you.

San Pedro Chapel and neighborhood association meeting place.

Recently retired Frank Flasch has been building a One Can A Week program in his neighborhood. It’s especially challenging since there are three Home Owner Associations to organize.

Frank’s email last week describes the task before him coordinating several gated communities at once.

“For the month of March, 3 HOA’s have contributed to the One can a week = Four Cans per month program, over 110 lbs of foods

Those 3 HOA include the Fort Lowell Estates, La Sonrisa and Orchard River.

“As you know the food bank is in constant need of food. So please if at all possible contribute to this program. I would be glad to meet with each of the HOA groups to explain the details of the program and help each of (the) HOA’s create a champion to carry the program on in your area.”

The best advice I can offer Frank is never go away. Neighbors like that kind of behavior when it comes to helping them learn to get and stay involved in community service.

It’s a sure thing, all of the neighbors in the Miles Neighborhood will receive a glossy

11″ x 17″ plate poster. What is not so sure is the timing of delivery to your front door. It’s
a budgetary thing.

Outstanding Food
The parking area leading to the Community Food Bank warehouse docks was just resurfaced and now the food really stands out in the shopping cart. No more grey cracks and bumps in the background.

We collected a total of 198 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $55.81, a $50.00 check and $5.81 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

Focus Hath Charm…

“…we just live together.”

“Call me back on your other phone, John suggested, “this will take awhile.”

Whenever possible, early Saturday afternoon is naptime. So I was almost perky when my client and friend called at 4 pm with a computer question. And getting to use my $1.66 a month MagicJack computer phone instead of that minute-by-minute money-gobbling cell phone lifted my spirits even more.

John is always fun to work for and with but today I could hear a special sense of commitment in his voice. He wasn’t giving up so easily in our game of trying to help an inexperienced pilot land a Piper Cub over the phone. He executed every move I suggested with no mini mutterings and no mistakes. In five or six tries and a couple of reboots, we figured out how to open the new program on his new Mac Book Air.

Blackberry and PC is where John started when he began his business. Over time he switched to the iPhone then iPad and recently Mac Air. It is his well thought out strategic plan to “synchronize” all of his business tools, but more important, he is taking ownership of his idea to heart.

That’s probably what I felt. John is into his technology now and not frustrated with machine idiosyncrasies as in the past. He is tech focused and it is his will to be so.

I was a bit euphoric when I hung up because I remembered my own focus epiphany and how great it felt to understand something so critical in life. Of course, my journey was more like a dune buggy ride on the Baja 1000 Off Trail road race, than a smooth Piper Cub landing.

The last few weeks of my Army tour in Germany I began to experience some awful feelings even once coming close to passing out in a restaurant. I shook it off and concentrated on my pending release stateside. Back at my job in St. Louis those feelings returned with a vengeance and I learned they were anxiety and panic attacks. I was depressed which I also learned runs in my family. Not heart attacks, although my mother died of one, or cancer or common diseases like that. We get depressed and live longer than most, suffering all the way.

Since college I wasn’t terribly successful working in the corporate world which probably was the cause of my lower than dirt self esteem. Those suicidal thoughts hurt and scared me half to death.

Then one morning about 6 months into my depression, I had the first of my two life altering epiphanies. I was behind the wheel of my green Beetle on my way to work when I realized “I could not think of anything else.” I said that out loud I remember. Your mind is racing and thinking of a gazillion things but they are all on one subject, your feeling of worthlessness.

My next thought was to do something fun but difficult to get my mind working again. I was a musician playing bass in local jazz bands so I decided to teach myself guitar. That night I bought a $30 Alvarez guitar and a simple classical guitar songbook.

Right after dinner at 6 pm I sat down to play and didn’t move from that chair until midnight. I did that every night for two straight weeks.

The first 12 hours were spent learning to play two bars of quarter notes correctly. The struggle in my brain to coordinate tempo, picking and fingering was herculean. Eight notes and I couldn’t get it right.

At the end of two weeks I realized I had been undepressed for one week. I went right by the depression and did not even notice. Than, too, I could play any number of Etudes in that songbook. Welcome back self-esteem.

That was my second epiphany. Focus was my issue and now focus was my friend along side that wonderful guitar. It’s the first thing I pack when I move and it has never left my sight since that first night. I don’t play the guitar any more, we just live together.

In Tucson, before 9/11, I used my experience in defeating depression to help a few TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) patients. One in particular, Sally (not her real name) was having a terrible time finding a job. In school she was quite a basketball player so I suggested for her mental/physical project she dribble a basketball everywhere she walked, which was most places since she did not have a driver’s license. Focus is the only thing you can do dribbling a basketball or you are chasing after it a lot.

She thought the task was so much fun and again within a few weeks, her smile inflated. The first job she interviewed for ended with a call back even before she made it home. That message on her machine was the best news she had had in years.

People often ask me when I might give up One Can A Week. Perhaps now after reading this update they will understand that focusing on consistently feeding the hungry is an integral part of my being. So never.

Biggest Box of Cereal Ever

If you are wondering how many kids 10 lbs. of cereal can feed, wonder no more. The answer is 110. That huge box of Quaker Oats in the upper left hand corner of the cart says it can fill 110 plus hungry tummies. Sounds reasonable since tummies, like cereal boxes, come in different sizes, too.We collected a total of 178 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $34.50, a $25.00 check and $9.50 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter 

When I pick up Maria’s Catalina Vista donations on Sundays, her dad, Carl, an Optical Scientist at the U of A, is there to greet me sometimes. This was one of those Sundays.

Our conversations are always easy, interesting and thoughtful because Carl looks to understand human behavior. We talked about the nature or nurture of generosity in people and if they are born to be a liberal or a conservative. I was on both sides of this issue telling Carl about a study that discovered poor people are more generous than rich people. However, when the researchers told the rich people to imagine they were poor and the poor people to imagine they were rich, the poor became less generous if they thought they were rich and the rich became more generous if they thought they were poor. Nurture at work.

On the nature side, we talked about our earliest memories where we just felt the desire to help people. If we saw something out of place, we deemed it important to do something to correct the situation.

This thought suddenly stirred a memory from my Army days. After basic training, I was stationed in the Headquarters Company at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma writing news releases. Our stone barracks were near the administration building and quite nice compared to what I lived in during basic training. The floors were polished cement and the bunk beds were double-decker frames placed in a casual order about a large room.

One day as I returned from a not-so-hard day at the PIO (Public Information) Office, I noticed an 11B20 soldier (basic infantryman) lounging on a top bunk reading a book. That was unusual because Playboy Magazine was the standard fare. I asked him what he was reading and he said a physic book. I soon learned he was RA (Regular Army volunteer) and held a Ph.D. in physics. I, on the other hand, was a US (draftee dragged in kicking and screaming) and graduated Summa Cum Last.

I knew the infantrymen were attached to our Headquarters Company and their duty was to put out fires on the artillery range during the day while they awaited orders to ship out to Nam.

Without saying much more than “What the hell are you doing as an 11B20?”, I wrote down his service number and the next day I visited the personnel office.

He may have been a soldier but he was more a physicist with his quiet, somewhat shy demeanor. I knew I had to do something because he was not equipped to get himself out of his life-threatening dilemma.

Since I was in the Army barely 90 days, I understood very little about military procedures but I did know that the Army had a mistake to correct. The first officer I encountered in personnel was a Captain. “Sir,” I said with not too much confidence,” this is the service number of an 11B20 attached to Headquarters Company. He has a Ph.D. in physics. I think he is in the wrong place.” I handed the Captain the piece of paper on which I wrote the soldier’s service number and left.

The next day around noon I started up the barracks steps and the soldier in his dress uniform, dragging his duffel bag, came through the door.

“Hey, where are you going,” I said a bit surprised.

“Cape Canaveral. I’m being transferred. Going to work with rockets.”

That’s all we said.

(During that period of time, Cape Canaveral, from 1963 to 1972, was called Cape Kennedy but many of us never made the changeover.)

It’s been forty-six years since then, and now and again I think of that soldier and I’m sure he is telling the story about a guy who saved his bacon just because that guy saw something out of line in the universe. Bet the personnel Captain is too.

Carl said he really liked my story. That’s probably because he is a member of the U of A Physics Department and a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy.

There is a new show on TV called Touch with Kiefer Southerland. It is about a man whose Autistic son sees the order of the entire universe and has his dad help fix peoples lives when things go awry. Fascinating show, but we don’t require someone with special powers to tell us when something is wrong. All we need is a strong sense of what is fair and the will to think of others more than we think of ourselves.

Things are ever changing around us, but we as a neighborhood have kept to our One Can A Week commitment for 13 straight quarters. Based on averages, for the past three years we donated 229 lbs. of food and $50.18 in cash per week.

In our first quarter of our fourth year, we donated 206 lbs. of food and $57.08 in cash per week.

That’s got to be the finest example of community service consistency on the planet. Somebody call Guinness.

Twinkie Attack
Terri opened the door and handed me her donation. A bright blue and white box featuring a big yellow Twinkie was on top. (Pictured in the front of the cart.)

“Oh, no, those will never make it,” I thought. “Wait a minute; did I say that out loud?”

Terri smiled and said emphatically, “No.”

We both laughed.

The very next stop was at Greg’s house on the corner of 12th Street and Cherry. He walked up to my car and studied the donations spilling out of the container in the back seat.

“Twinkies! Give me that.”

We talked and we laughed some more before I drove off with the Twinkies secure in the back seat.

We collected a total of 164 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $33.15, a $25.00 check and $8.15 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

What a difference 0.076 seconds makes. This is the time it took to travel 4 feet at 35 MPH where the Jeep was destined to spin around violently instead of being T-boned.

At about 2:30 am last Saturday, an extremely drunk, 23-year old man named Jeffrey crashed into my dear friend, Maen Mdanat, owner of the Axis Food Mart.

If Maen had driven a tiny bit slower before he came to the intersection near Fry’s on First Avenue or hit the breaks when the drunk ran into his vehicle or tried to steer out of trouble, he would have died.

In many of our casual conversations, Maen and I often talk about how, no matter how we struggle to do the right thing, the fates just don’t seem to be paying much attention.

On one occasion standing outside his store while he smoked a cigarette, I told him a joke about Farmer Jones who built up his family and farm three times just to have everything destroyed repeatedly. After the last disaster, Farmer Jones fell to his knees out in the field and said, “Lord, what am I doing wrong?” The sky darkened and a booming voice came out of the heavens, “Farmer Jones, there is just something about you that pisses me off.”

We got a good laugh but agreed that even if our life stories are already written, we just aren’t going to stop trying.

Even with all of his special forces training, Maen was completely blind-sided by that drunk. He saw nothing because his field of vision was already passed that side street when the car shot out of the dark at more than 45 miles per hour and slammed into his gas tank and rear tire.

His Jeep spun to the right in three complete circles eventually severing a wooden utility pool in half that came to rest arched over his car like a Teepee, sparks flying everywhere. In all of that chaos Maen did have time to think.

After the police and tow truck arrived, the driver of the tow truck asked Maen how come he did not flip. In many SUV accidents, the car flips making matters worse.

The moment Maen started to spin he just let the Jeep go, lifting his feet in case the engine block would come flying through the firewall. Then he crossed his arms and grabbed his shoulders because he did not want the air bags to knock the wind out of him as happened in another accident years ago.

What did happen is Maen fractured three consecutive vertebras but there are no bone fragments, only hairline breaks. This is good news but there is still a huge amount of pain and he is restricted to lifting just five pounds. This is some comedown for a man who tussles with 200-pound kegs of beer the better part of a day.

The drunk villain in this story wasn’t hurt, of course, but he is being charged with Super Extreme DUI (BAC .200 or higher). Jeffrey was so drunk he could not stand up and had to be carried by the police to the cruiser when he was arrested. The icing on the cake is he also did not have an insurance card in his car.

Other not so good news is once you have an attorney in an accident case, doctors don’t want to treat you. So Maen’s lawyer had to recommend an Orthopedic specialist but first he must visit a chiropractor. What’s that all about?

Within 12 hours of this horrific accident and emergency room visit, he was back at work. Saturday is one of his biggest days of the week and he has to be there.

All of our stories may be told the moment we are born, but in Maen’s case—and we might look to him for inspiration—nothing is really over if you pause to think when life goes terribly wrong.

It Happened Again
Maybe its rained three or four times on Sunday when I collected our food. And each time I start out getting drenched and then by the time I get to Lorraine Aguilar’s home, the rain abates and the sun slowly slides out from behind the clouds. This Sunday was no different.

Of course, I appreciate Mother Nature’s consideration but it makes me wonder. Do the 400 or so nativity scenes in Lorraine’s house have anything to do with helping me feed the hungry in comfort? Not sure, but I’ll bring up the phenomena again the next time it rains on Sunday.

We collected a total of 178 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $37.50, a $25.00 check and $12.50 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter