Photo By Jill Torrance, New York Times photographer

The regular breakfast crowd slid by my display table at the Rincon Market this past Saturday morning, some nodded, some dropped a bill or two in the collection plate. We know each other by sight but not by name. It’s been like that for two years now.

A gentleman dressed in his usual expensive business-casual attire—a standout in the mix of sweat pants and tee shirts in various stages of decomposition—took out his billfold and also as usual, extracted a dollar bill and dropped it on the plate. Then he introduced his brother-in-law who stood next to him. The brother-in-law looked somewhat older so I imagined the gentleman had an older sister.

The conversation quickly turned to the plight of the hungry here in Tucson. The brother-in-law was startled to learn that about 250,000 parents and their kids out of about a million people are affected. To keep their interest I mentioned that business folks were not helping build a strong workforce for their kids and grand kids because the hungry kids now in school are undernourished and their brains and bodies are not developing as they should.

“There’s some long term planning that has to be done,” the gentleman said taking his brother-in-law’s elbow and coaxing him toward the coffee counter.

“Long term planning?” I thought, my eyes narrowing. “What about the parents who are also hungry … even more so probably? What about their productivity now? What about their mental state now?”

Those words never made it out of my head. But something else did occur to me. I was trying to tailor my statements to motivate them to respond. Business folks might view the problem as it relates to them and the next generation of business owners … perhaps even their own kids … and maybe they may do something about it other then leave a mess to clean up.

Then my thoughts turned personal. Why do I do this every week? Why do I care? I’m no do-gooder and I certainly don’t like joining anything.

The closest I’ve ever been to being hungry as a kid was when my folks forgot to buy the groceries one time and my three brothers and I had to have white bread and molasses for breakfast. The memory of that stinging flavor still makes me crinkles my face and shake my head.

Then there were a few time in the early days of authoring in New York City where I had to think of some clever accounting approaches to wangle a little more advance money out of my publishers. But I never skipped a meal.

My religious background is Catholic, however about my 21st birthday I decided to quit. My motivation was my total disdain for suffering. And anyway, by that time, all of the great men and women who had come before me had laid out all of the advice I would ever needed to run the gauntlet of life. Plato, Confucius, Martin Luther King, Jr., Jesus, Margaret Mead, Descartes, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mohammad, Socrates, and so on, succinctly described the best path to follow.

My favorite adage, of course, is “Do unto others…” because that’s the only rule anyone ever needs. I’m also fond of brevity.

All of these elements are part of my person and persona. However, the essence of my being is I am an idea person. With One Can A Week, I thought of a very simple and fun way to eliminate hunger in America. One neighbor helps one hundred or so neighbors to help thousands of needy families. And all I have to do is spend three hours a week picking up the food and cash donations.

Piece of cake! And that’s why I do it. My neighbors and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for hunger in America. Will others like me step up? Who knows? But one thing is for sure, the neighbors are ready, willing and able to help if they do.

Axis is Back
Maen, owner of the Axis Food Mart and his customers donate to the Community Food Bank at the close of nearly every sale. Last Friday Maen decided to count the change and ended up with enough money to buy 10 cases of 32 oz. Gatorade that weighed in at 272 lbs. Next time you visit the Axis Food Mart, thank Maen and drop a few pennies or dimes in the Food Bank Bucket. It does add up.

We collected a total of 466 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $33.65, a $25.00 check and $8.65 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

Slow and steady progress in the second year of the Miles School

One Can A Week program

Each branch on the One Can A Week Tree represents a grade and its success in collecting food for the Community Food Bank. Each leaf accounts for 10 lbs. of donated food.

Rebecca Lipson, the Miles Exploratory Learning Center middle school science teacher told me today—with a huge smile on her face—that their One Can A Week program is running very smoothly and takes very little effort on anyone’s part.

One student or class coordinator collects food from one class and enters the information in the log book. To incorporate as much learning as possible into the process, each class coordinator calculates the number of pounds by reading the labels and adding up the posted weights. Rebecca said many students did not know how many ounces were in a pound, but they sure do now.

Also, she mentioned that the collection, record keeping and calculations highlight real world project management skills. Each class coordinator participates in all aspects of the project so he or she can fully understands what it takes to make something happen.

Last semester, which ended in December, the total donations collected by Rebecca’s class amounted to 937 lbs. of food and $247 in cash.

Imagine if every school in Tucson had its own One Can A Week program. Then imagine the compassionate world those kids would build.

At the end of the school semester, Rebecca sends
all parents an update on the progress of their

One Can A Week program.

The log book is where the class coordinator enters the weight
for the food collected and the cash donations.

One Can A Week Jersey Style

No, it did not snow in Tucson. This is a photo of Hannah, Ari Kaplan’s six-year-old daughter collecting food in their New Jersey neighborhood. If you remember, back in late November Ari sent an email to me describing his Sunday One Can A Week adventure with Hannah.

“She is so excited when there is a can waiting (as am I) and was very proud to donate the bags of food that she personally collected. In fact, she often lets me know how much of the work she does — cutting the notes, writing her name, leaving the notes, writing down the contents, etc. I hope we can keep up the momentum over the winter (which was brutal last year).”

Looks like Hannah and her dad would be stiff competition for any mail carrier out there when it comes to those “appointed rounds.”

Still More Important

One Can A Week Folks

Keeping Everyone Healthy

One of our neighbors was sent home from work Sunday because she was coming down with a cold. However, I still wanted a photo of her holding the plate with her husband at her side.

Fortunately, that was the last photo on Miles so I quickly drove to Lenny’s house to pick up the 12th Street donations. After I loaded the car, I asked him if I could wash the plate and my hands. He said yes and assured me he had all kinds of soap and disinfectants in his kitchen. My kind of guy!

A few minutes later, I had no qualms about handing the plate to another neighbor for a photo. Thanks, Lenny.

We collected a total of 180 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $33.50, a $25.00 check and $8.50 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

This is no pipe dream. It’s clear-eyed extrapolation based on the success of One Can A Week in the Miles Neighborhood over the past three years.

Last week I was wondering aloud during a computer lesson with Dorrie, my talented writer friend, why I can’t find people in other neighborhoods to get involved collecting food.

Dorrie thought a second and said, “This may not be appropriate in polite company but I think people should earn their Community Food Bank food.”

In the next instant a news story I saw about a year or so ago popped into my head. It showed a guy at the food bank who was young, had no job and was volunteering. He said that since he needed food he thought he would work at the food bank to help pay his way.

“That’s the guy I’m looking for, Dorrie,” I smiled. In my mind, food recipients were off limits, but if that guy is any indication, I’m sure others feel the same way. In fact, I have a number of participants in the neighborhood who tell me all of the time that they are happy to help me because they needed the Community Food Bank once and they just want to give back.

This opened a door to a whole new way of thinking for me and I created a program called The Red Umbrella Corps that hires people each Sunday and pays them $30 for three hours of work.

Since our One Can A Week experience shows that we average 229 lbs. and $50.18 per week, the program could be hugely successful.

But don’t take my word for it. Just do the math. All of the figures are in the table below. Then give me a call because I sure would like to talk about this.  

 

More Important One Can A Week Folks

 

A Bit Distracted

We took more pictures this Sunday, helped a new neighbor move into their new home andcollected food, of course. It wasn’t until Monday at the food bank that I realized we had quite a haul.

 We collected a total of 228 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $104.50, a $25.00 check and $79.50 in cash.

 

See you Sunday,

Peter

Give A Little, Take A Lot

That’s the deal I made three years ago with scores of my neighbors in the Miles Neighborhood. Give me a can a week on Sunday and I will take a lot of food to the Community Food Bank on Monday.

Our deal has worked out great, too. Beginning in 2009 through 2011, we donated 35,751.5 lbs. of food and $7,828.09 in cash. Just counting the food, we fed 9,168 folks and their kids three meal in one day.

About two months ago, Pauline Hechler, VP of Development, invited me to the January 26th Community Food Bank board meeting because she wanted to personally introduce me to all of its members. Since they are helping run my favorite charity, I also wanted to meet them.

About two forkfuls into my scrambled eggs, Pauline, who was seated next to me, stood up and made the introduction mentioning our impressive donation numbers.

Then Bill Carnegie, the CEO, walked up behind my chair and said he had something for me. I stood up and he handed me this handsome, and quite heavy, metal plate with an inscription on it. He began to read aloud.

Bill Carnegie shows me the beautiful Wilton Armetale plate and reads the inscription as Pauline Hechler looks on. Photo by Meghan Heddings

This is one time subtlety escapes me. It is quite obvious that I am completely taken with the presentation, the sentiment and the heft of the 12″ plate.   Photo by Meghan Heddings

Bill Carnegie and I take the obligatory presentation photo which a few hours later gave me the idea to present this elegantly engraved award to all those who have helped me feed so many people. What surprised me is how quickly everyone took to the idea. Moments after they held the plate their replies were nearly identical. “Wow, of course you can take my picture.” Photo by Pauline Hechler

“As substantial as they are beautiful” is the opening line in the Wilton Armetale brochure. You will see below, each person I handed the plate to read the inscription and then clutched it warmly.

With deep apprecition for creating the One Can AWeek Program.Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, January, 2012.

Bill is reading and I’m thinking, “What a beautiful plate, I love this design … and everything.”

I’m not an awards kind of guy. I do things because they need to be done. I don’t look for any kind of mention or at-a-boys. I instantly changed my mind when I held this magnificent memento. Later in the day when thinking about Sunday’s pick up I decided to show, no, give this plate to my neighbors. By putting out all of those cans for 160 weeks straight, they forced me to qualify for this award.

And like me, they have to get their picture taken. (There are scores of Miles neighbors to award and they will appear here over the weeks.)

I’m the official keeper of the plate, but any time a neighbor wants to throw a party or have a special gathering of friends, they can borrow it to tout their good works and at the same time, encourage others to step up as they have.

Now I’m thinking about where to display this elegant plate in my humble home.

Food Bank Deliveries Made Easy

Cory, who lives on Highland Ave., operates the Treehouse Thai Message Spa located at 148 S. 4th Avenue with her husband. They recently ran a food drive and their customers donated $178. Since Cory participates in One Can A Week, she knew I’d gladly deliver her donation.

Everyone should follow Cory’s lead. If someone you know has food or money to donate to the Community Food Bank, just volunteer my services. After all, I’m there every Monday delivering our neighborhood donations.

We collected a total of 166 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $214.50, two checks for $206.00 and $8.50 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

John, my friend, my client and my mentor lives in the Foothills and donates to One Can A Week nearly every session we have. He buys those handsome food packs of soup, peanut butter or fruit you find at Costco. Out of respect and gratitude, I always place them in the upper right hand corner of the shopping cart so he can quickly spot his donation. (See photo below.)

Ultra thin MacBook Air

For many months now we have been switching John’s electronic media from PC to Mac starting with the iPad. He got an iPhone next and just this past Friday, a MacBook Air. The transition has been fun and interesting, like Go Daddy doesn’t handle iPads well so we had to move John’s company website. (Bluehost.com is the answer for those interested techies.)

This whole move is possible because Microsoft Office now works well on Macs. Consequently, it makes no difference what operating system you have; you can Outlook, Word, Excel or PowerPoint to your heart’s delight on either system.

What turned out not to be so much fun were the glitches on the retail side. I suggested John buy his new computer at Simutek on Ft. Lowell because I’ve known them for years and I like their style, not to mention, the lines are much shorter there.

We wanted the Office Suite loaded on the machine when we picked it up, but this did not happen. Then when I tried to download the software at John’s home, the Mac was password protected. Son of a …!

“Call Simutek,” John quietly suggested as I tried a few generic passwords and several more colorful words. My frustration was growing because John is really important to me, and too, I do not suffer incompetence well.

“Call Simutek,” he said again handing me the phone.

The person who answered my call had no idea what the password might be and the person who would was off.

As I packed up the computer John said, “We cannot let our frustrations get in the way; we just have to get it done.”

“I’m just venting, John,” I replied. “Of course I never talk to people like that. It’s counter productive.”

There was a young woman behind the counter when I arrived at Simutek. After my brief, smileless explanation, she quickly apologized and went into the back to get the generic password because she did not know it either.

Upon her return, she gave me the password and then asked me if I wanted to speak to the owner. “We, and especially the owner, pride ourselves on how we handle our customers,” she said.

“No,” I replied smiling now, “John and I never think we hit the lottery because someone messes up. That’s just not right to take advantage of people like that. What I would like you to do is take responsibility for this situation and talk to your boss. Inform everyone about generic passwords and train staff to do what they say they are going to do. It appears that folks here aren’t really working as a team. Nothing seems to be passed on.”

Before we parted, she asked me for my business card so she can put it in their book of computer instructors. The only card I give out these days is One Can A Week, which I realized, will really stick out among all those techie designs. Maybe I will win a few new clients from this experience. Even if nothing happens, it is so much better than winning a gotcha-lottery.

Little Boy Blue
Jeff and Emily opened the door and there stood their little blond hair blue-eyed baby boy dressed from head to toe in a blue jumper. He handed me a can of beans and said “Bye.” Got to remember to bring my camera on my Sunday rounds.

We collected a total of 206 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $36.50, a $25.00 check and $11.50 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

Adam (left) thinks that if people have an internet, then why can’t dogs have a barknet. Outside is his Starbucks café where he can’t wait to connect with all of his doggy buddies in the neighborhood.

The alley was a bit of a mess following the Brush and Bulky pickup earlier in the week. After my stint at the Rincon Market on Saturday I decided to rake it back into presentable again. Adam, my 9-year-old Westie wasn’t happy with the scraping sounds and a cat or two that sauntered by. So he barked and barked some more.

Every few minutes I checked on him to quiet him down. But then he’d start up again. I finished my raking in about 45 minutes and walked back into the house. It was then that I noticed the ground was wet and my artwork table under the canopy was covered with big droplets of water. I checked my pups and felt water on Molly’s back but nothing on Adam. (That’s the way it always is. Adam starts something and poor Molly takes the brunt.)

My first thought was the garden hose next to the gate ruptured again. Nope. That wasn’t it. Then the slow dawning… Oooh, my new neighbors, Melissa and Sean in the big house, sprayed water over my fence to quiet the barking. The wet artwork disturbed me but the attack on my pups was infuriating. Somebody accosted my dogs when I was just 50 feet down the alley.

An ultrasonic biofeedback device that turns barks into sounds only dogs can hear.

I flipped the water off the two posters I had recently printed and calmed my self down. In about three minutes I had a plan.

Melissa answered the front door and I apologized for Adam’s barking. I knew that was the reason for the sun shower because she had yelled at Adam from inside her home months earlier when he was particularly noisy.
Melissa said that Sean was trying to take a nap and Adam was thwarting his efforts. I love naps myself so I understood but suggested next time instead of spraying water and ruining a couple of Rincon Market / Community Food Bank posters, she should call my cell which I always carry. I gave her my card and said I want to make her life here as comfortable as possible. Actually, I thought that would be the end of it.

Sunday morning just before I started my rounds, I check the mailbox. Inside was a Bark Off package with a green note card envelope taped to it. When I opened the envelope and took out the card, inside was a $50 check and a note.

“Thank you for giving me your card today,” Melissa wrote. “Please find enclosed a donation to your “One Can A Week” program. I hope it helps replace any water damaged posters. P.S. Perhaps this (Bark Off) would be another non-invasive way to hush the repetitive barking from your dogs? If you are willing, we could give it a try.”

I had that Bark Off up and running a few minutes after I stopped for lunch. It will take a week or so for the ultrasonic sound to affect Adam, as the package insert warned, but in this case, whether the product works or not, it’s the thought that really counts.

There was a situation. The people involved decided not to bark at one another and instead put aside emotions to consider each other’s concerns. This is my kind of world.

Ready to Hit the Books

A number of students just got back from vacation so we collected a whole bunch more food this week. And the good news is they well be here until late May.

We collected a total of 194 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $76.75, two checks for $75.00 and $1.75 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

Nothing Makes You Think about Change 

Like A Big Red Umbrella

Last Sunday I knew I needed a new umbrella the moment metal fatigue overwhelmed my old red umbrella as I turned left onto Vine from 12th Street and a flailing support rod bonked me on the head.

Within a few blinks and some head shaking, I figured out what had happened and quickly resolved to spend a little more money on the next red umbrella. For just $10 more I bought a taller, wider and stronger (made of wood not hollow metal rods) red umbrella that will better resist Arizona’s intermittent breezes.

Of course, after that incident I decided to pay more attention to nature’s little hints because I truly dislike blows to the cranium. (Now that I think about it that was one of the major reasons I quit soccer as a kid. Being out of breath all of the time was the other reason.)

On Saturday at the Rincon Market, a gentleman stepped up to my display table and asked me if the Food Bank were still in a tough spot. When I told him about the 235,000 folks they service monthly, he reached into his pocket and dropped a $5.00 bill on the donation plate. A short time later as he and his wife were leaving, we struck up another conversation but this time we talked about collecting food in the neighborhoods. She liked the idea and wanted to participate. She asked me if I would begin a program in her Sam Hughes neighborhood.

You need neighbors to do that for you I suggested. But later I thought that for three years I have searched for such neighbors and only a few have taken up the challenge like fifteen-year-old Maria in the Catalina Vista neighborhood.

Maybe this was another one of nature’s red umbrella moment. There must be a way to motivate non-neighbors to gather food donations weekly in neighborhoods across. Tucson. My frustration is I know there are donations there just waiting to be picked up. Fifty percent of the Miles Neighborhood participates so it follows other neighborhoods can do as well or better.

On my way out of the door at the Community Food Bank today I heard a voice call my name. I turned around to see Pauline Hechler, VP of Development walking across the warehouse floor toward me.

Happy New Year and a hug followed. She was on her way to a meeting and I only had a few seconds to talk.

“I’ve been thinking, I’d like to have lunch with you because I need help in formulating a plan to get other neighborhoods involved. Jacob said he gets requests from people looking for projects and perhaps One Can A Week can be that project.”

“Maybe we can have Jacob put those people in touch with you,” Pauline quickly replied.

“No, it really has to be a program affiliated with a major organization,” I said, “like the Peace Corps. Something that is a part of something bigger.’

Then Pauline’s next thought hit me like my old red umbrella, “There is a lot of food out there we just have to pick it up.”

Didn’t I just think that?

Here’s another idea I had. Let’s call the volunteers who fan out in Tucson neighborhoods each Sunday The Red Umbrella Corps. Wait, I bet Pauline already thought of that. Wonder what other ideas she’ll have for me at lunch.

I’m paying attention now.

It Got a Little Personal this Sunday
In addition to the boxes of cereal and bunches of bananas, folks donated some very nice personal items such as shampoos, soaps and tooth paste. (Pictured on the ground to the right.)

We collected a total of 176 lbs. of food plus 8 lbs in non-food items. The money we donated amounted to $31.50, a $25.00 check and $6.50 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

8 Hours a Week = 9.6 Tons of Food in 2011

4,130 lbs. of food collected in 2011

John, my neighbor on 13th Street walked over to my Cabriolet on Sunday to hand me his can of tuna. I thanked him for the curb service and he sighed, “Retirement is driving me nuts. I’ve got to find something to do.” 

1,893 lbs. of food collected in 2011

He mentioned a few volunteer web sites he visited but he had no idea what he wanted to do. Obviously, seeing me encouraged him to think aloud about his consternation.

Most people consider me retired because of my age and community service commitment but I’m an entrepreneur. And entrepreneurs never stop working until their sun finally sets. I teach computer mostly but I write and take any interesting job I can find. (By the way, being job selective also makes me look retired.)

13,249 lbs. of food collected in 2011

A few hours later I thought of John and the mental processes he is experiencing. He’s had a job most of his life so he is thinking “volunteer job” and that thought probably gives his chills because it sounds as boring as retirement itself.
 

In 2009 when I thought of One Can A Week to help the hungry here in Tucson, my intension was to create a program that was easy on me and easy for others to participate. I like physical repetitive work because it’s a great way to exercise without running or biking to nowhere … and something gets done.

 Right now I spend three hours on Sunday visiting my neighbors and picking up food, threes hours Saturday at the Rincon Market countingmoney, talking to Sam Hughes neighbors and shopping, one hour picking up Sunflower’s food and one hour on Monday, delivering the bounty to the Community Food Bank. That totals eight hours a week and tons of weight lifting and walking.

 I’m having fun doing what is good for me and as it turns out, my fun is beneficial for lots of other folks, too. That’s what John has to start thinking about and anyone else looking to make a difference. What can he do that he will enjoy and help others at the same time? Jobs aren’t fun but work you like to do sure is.

Off to a Good Start

Although Sunday was New Year’s Day and a lot of neighbors were otherwise occupied, we collected just 4 lbs. under our normal weekly average. Seems the one resolution everyone again in Miles will keep this year is “Feed hungry kids and their families.”
 
 We collected a total of 164 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $35.00, a $25.00 check and $10.00 in cash.
 

See you Sunday,

Peter

2011 Fourth Quarter Report

To put it another way, at 1.3 lbs. per meal, we donated 10,192 meals or we fed 3,397 people three meals in one day. It’s amazing, after three years of weekly donations, we only missed last year’s total weight by 50 lbs.Where we far exceeded expectations is in our cash donations. This year’s total was $3,220.01. Based on the cost of the Community Food Bank’s food and services we donated $32,200.10. That’s a $1.00 = $10.00 ratio. Last year our cash donation was $2,654.70 or $565.31 less than this year.

Next Sunday is the beginning of our fourth year of donating to the Community Food Bank. I’m still hungry to help and after analyzing 2011’s figures, I know you are, too.

The Divas Are Back

In December, two years ago, Debbie and her Eastside Domestic Diva friends collected a bunch of food and dropped it off at her sister’s home on Miles Street. They did it again this year but this time they heard about the Community Food Bank’s request for cereal. When I got to Kelly’s home near the end of Miles, I could see her front porch was brimming with boxes. So many, in fact, Kelly, in her bare feet, had to help me carry them over the gravel walkway to my car.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” I asked. “I could only walk on gravel barefoot if someone were shooting at me.”

“When it comes to bare feet,” Kelly replied, “men are such…”

I didn’t quite hear that last word because my mind was overwhelmed with the thought of jagged little rocks digging deep into my tender arches.

At the food bank Tuesday morning the cereal boxes reached twice as high as our highest stack ever. With so many hungry kids, the Divas can break our cereal stacking record any time they want.

We collected a total of 240 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $206.75, $175.00 in checks and $31.75 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

Maen Mdanat, owner of the Axis Food Mart

Since February 2010, I have been writing about my friend Maen Mdanat, the owner of the Axis Food Mart. The reason is he never disappoints me. Tiger Woods disappoints me. Joe Paterno and the whole Penn State crew disappoints me. But Maen, even as time and a stressful business economy trudges on, is the same person I met that chilly day in his parking lot almost two years ago . He reminds me of a company president who, when asked why he doesn’t take notes in meetings, said, “I don’t have to, I never lie.”
People have raised questions about Maen’s character, integrity and ethnicity when he applied for his beer and wine license and again when he applied for a liquor license. Those questions forced him to defend himself and his business and cost him a lot in legal fees. He prevailed with no malice in his heart.

Through all of those tribulations, I was one of his most ardent supporters because he listened to my ideas about protecting our neighborhood and helped eradicate the vagrant problem. During a licensing session at the city council, Councilman Frimbres shook our hands and asked me, “He’s still a good guy, right?”

“Yes, sir, he is,” I replied. I could tell Councilman Fimbres was counting on me to vouch for Maen because he knew how much my One Can A Week program means to me and that I wouldn’t jeopardize my reputation for anything.

Today there are more people standing in Maen’s corner providing support, namely the Tucson Police Department.

If you remember in June of this year I wrote in the 129th Week Update, The Beer Keg Caper about Maen’s efforts to help the police capture a thief. Well, a little over a week ago Maen received a letter from the Tucson Police Department with an update on the case and a commendation. The letter reads in full:

“Mr. Maen Mdanat,

Maen’s been very good for the Miles Neighborhood in many, many ways.

I’ve thanked him a number time for keeping me and my neighbors safe. Perhaps in the spirit of the holiday season you could stop by his store and thank him yourself.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Rain and Shine

The rain chased the sun in and out of the clouds this past Sunday but no matter, we collected more than 30 lbs. above our weekly average. With great results like that, who cares if you get a little wet.

We collected a total of 200 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $107.50, a $25.00 check and $82.50 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter