Where have the last 3 weeks gone? Well, let me tell you…
What with camping, hot springs, and mooning kayakers down by Mt. Princeton with Erica OtherEthers, Mike DoitDoneit and his lovely lady, and CourtneyJason LotsofLove, it was one weekend with enough adventures to excuse this 3 week lag. But don’t doubt there are others.
There was also the weekend of Letitia Lethalities, including but not limited to: lode finding, Anna Skyping, pepper dicing, decade debriefings, Taco Bell runs (double entendre there), and mocking graphic ‘no dogs pooing’ signs. I’d call us a double whammy.
But bigger than my own going ons:
This month the Summit County food banks are doing a drive to stock their shelves, as Mud Season unemployment is particularly hard on our population. So, as Spring cloud cells flit about spitting rain, hail, snow, or any combination thereof, volunteers, organizations, and community members work together to keep neighbors fed. My favorite is when the whole family gets involved.
For example, one small family came by and proudly dropped a box of Chex Mix in our cart. I complimented little-big sister on the choice at which point she and mom explained it had entailed an all out family debate in the cereal aisle. A discussion of healthy vs. snacky foods sounds like EXACTLY what should be happening on a family grocery trip. I love ‘everybody wins’ situations, and this seemed a paradigm.
It made my heart swell each time someone stopped by, young single guys giving a can of peas, old dudes who’d rather give $20 b/c, as one fellow explained, “the only thing I’m good at picking are wedgies.” Toothbrushes, diapers, easy meals, baking staples, everything came our way. So far the average has been 700 lbs of food for 4 hours of volunteers being outside of local markets. A total of 3300 lbs of food have been collected so far, with more to come!
But I can tell you, the food flies off shelves, and not just in Summit County. I promise, there are hungry people in your area. So, wherever you are, grab those cans out of the back of your pantry, invest an extra .88 cents in a can of corn at the grocery store, do whatever you can, just be sure to share.
The need is great. And so are you.
