227th Week Update - Miles Neighborhood One Can A Week Project

Hi Folks,
Miles School Sets New One Can A Week Record

Relentless, Friendly Reminders Make the Difference

It was just a little after 3 pm Friday as I drove down Vine Street next to the Miles School. Suddenly I was flagged down by the driver in the opposite lane. It was Tiffany Kassel and she was all smiles. “We collected just over 2,500 lbs. of food this year,” she said.

I stopped in my tracks and rolled the window the rest of the way down. It was unusual that no one was behind either of us so we chatted for a minute or more.

“Last year,’ Tiffany continued, “we collected 1,100 lbs. At the beginning of this school year I set our goal at 2,500 lbs. and we made it.”

The difference we surmised was her friendly and relentless reminders to the kids. “I told them if they forgot their food,” Tiffany said, “they could donate some small amount of change, whatever they had. Their parents liked this option also and often gave a dollar or two when they were in a rush.”

We said goodbye and slowly drove off in different directions. But I’ll bet we were both thinking the same thing. Whether you stop by folks’ homes every Sunday or you say something every week just before collection day at the office or school, nobody really considers that reminder to feed hungry kids and their parents a bother or a nuisance.

I do it all the time and so does Tiffany and we collect a heck of a lot of food. And we never see any of those exasperated looks either that persistent sales people often get.

Fascinating. When I present One Can A Week to individuals or organizations the first reaction is they shutter at the thought of approaching another human being. The phrase “drop off” is generally included in the first sentence they utter.

After that brief drive by conversation I had with Tiffany and some reflection, I now know what to say to those reticent to engage someone in a conversation about helping a fellow human being in deep trouble.

When people agree to participate in One Can A Week, they want to see you every week and just love the fact that you are thoughtful and, yes, considerate enough to help them remember an obligation they too want to keep … relentlessly.

Cheryl Crow is the celebrity spokesperson for One A Day Women’s Nutrition Mission. I learned this fact after opening an email sent to me by Kristen Hershberger, the Volunteer Manager at the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.

Here’s how Ms. Crow described her mission:

“…this year, in addition to donating up to 2 million more meals ($250,000), the Nutrition Mission is celebrating and honoring those who make exemplary efforts to fight hunger in their communities by awarding four $25,000 grants to Feeding America food banks in local communities. The winners will be announced this September and one of the four winners will be selected to meet me in my second home, New York, to help further raise awareness of the great work being done to fight hunger. So share your stories. Together we can make a real difference.”

I stayed up late to finish the 2,500 character (with spaces) story about One Can A Week and then clicked send. We won’t hear anything from One A Day (notice the conceptual similarities in our names) until September and only if the Community Food Bank wins the $25,000 grant.

Of course I didn’t mind working late for the Food Bank because if you remember, way back in the beginning I got a similar email from Pauline Hechler, the former Director of Development who told me about a $500 grant I could win from Quaker Oats. I did win that one and the money paid for the signage on the Cabriolet.

In my world, favors always get favors.

Lots of Kentucky Derby Winners
Every year my friends John and Heidi host a fun derby party with wagers, wonderful food and whimsical hats. When Orb crossed the finish line first this year, not only did he win but so did John and One Can A Week.

John picked up his winnings and approached the other lucky gambler. “I’m going to donate my winnings to the food bank, what do you thing?” That kind of question always gets a pause and then “Oh, yeah, me, too” response. John won again and the community food bank picked up a sweet $110.00.

We collected a total of 163 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $155.00, a $25.00 check and $130.00 in cash.


See you Sunday,

Peter

226th Week Update - Miles Neighborhood One Can A Week Project

Hi Folks,

Over the Transom

A week ago Sunday I stopped by Sprouts (formerly Sunflower Market) on Speedway and Swan to pick up a bottle of Eskimo-3 fish oil capsules. While on my way out I stopped to introduce myself to a manager-looking follow near the front door and discovered that Richard Rodriquez was still the manager. That says a lot about Sprouts because they kept a good manager in place when they took over.

On Monday after dropping off the donations at the food bank, I headed back to Sprouts. There Richard was standing near the booths up front opposite the cash registers. I was really glad to see him.

We exchanged pleasantries and he said he wanted to again provide the services of One Can A Week to his customers. He reminded me that under Sunflower management he had more autonomy but he now has to confer with management in Phoenix before we can move forward.

As I left I handed him a document called “A Business Solution to Ending Hunger in America” that I prepared describing One Can A Week’s history at the Rincon Market, Safeway and the Sunflower Market. He assured me the information would help and he will get back to me soon.

Well, that lifted my spirits and it was only 11 am. I decided to drive over to Costco on Grant and Craycroft to try my luck there.

While waiting to talk to the very tall and very muscular greeter I thought only a fool would try to get something by him on his watch. When it was my turn to speak he listened and then directed me to the manager station past the food court.

Sarah was the first person in a red vest I approached. She, too, listened attentively, thought a moment and wrote the name and phone number of the person I should call on a piece of scrap paper. As I left, Sarah said she understood and liked the One Can A Week concept. Another spirit booster.

On Thursday I reached James Harris the warehouse manager and he told me that Costco does not allow any charities to collect donations at any of their location. That made sense to me but I said that One Can A Week was more of a sales promotion and customer service program. It did not matter but he did give me the company’s headquarters phone number.

The next person I was directed to speak to was the assistant to the West Coast Senior VP of Operations. Again the conversation was open and very friendly but still I got the same answer. Also, I could not get through to her boss, the VP.

I really liked talking to the folks at Costco even though each conversation was a disappointment. Most companies today hide behind a recorded wall of “Dial 1, Dial 2...” There is never a way to really reach anyone or ask a question.

I now like Costco’s CEO, Craig Jelinke even more than I did before this encounter. If you remember, he’s the one who favors raising the minimum wage and he treats his people with a great deal of respect. It shows because in turn, they really respect their customers.

Something else I realized was his people follow policy to the letter. Consequently, if I want to get a hearing I have to go to the top.

Instead of getting back on the phone I decided to return to days of old and send a letter … over the transom, if you will.

Dear Mr. Jelinek,

Business is going to solve all of our social ills. I know that for sure, however, you may like this concept but are skeptical.

Let’s take hunger, for example. For the past three years I have been working with Ron Abbott the owner of the Rincon Market, a landmark neighborhood store in Tucson, AZ. Ron has donated over 5,000 lbs. of food in 2012 to the Community Food Bank and all of that food was paid for by his customers. And they are very happy to do so.

This is how One Can A Week works at the Rincon Market. Customers donate cash averaging from $90 - $220 per week. That money is used to buy food at retail; e.g., rice for $1.29 or canned vegetables for $0.99, etc. The customers also buy food themselves and leave it in a Community Food Bank box. All the items are delivered to the food bank on Monday.

Of course, your operation would be more food and less cash donated by the customers.

One Can A Week is a low key and very consistent promotion. A small sign near the cash registers will do. In addition, your participation should be noted in your flyers and on your website. Lastly, a local food bank box should be on displayed in the front of each store.

The best part of One Can A Week is the program is in the public domain. I decided to do that shortly after I created the concept because I am only interested in feeding hungry kids and their parents and I need lots of help.

Now imagine if a powerhouse supermarket took on the One Can A Week concept and applied some solid strategic thinking to the idea. That supermarket would sell a great deal more food and never have to give any food away again.

Right now at Costco the answer is no. This means if my letter causes anything to happen it can only be positive. Over the transom or not, I like the olds.

Even More To Come
At present Frank Flasch has 10 Old Ft. Lowell Neighborhood HOAs participating in his One Can A Week – Four Cans A Month program. And so far this year they have donated 2,182 lbs. of food and $902 in cash to the Community Food Bank.

In a month Frank will have two more HOAs join his team bringing the number of participants up to an even dozen. That’s got to be some kind of record.

We collected a total of 184 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $32.00, a $25.00 check and $8.00 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

225th Week Update - Miles Neighborhood One Can A Week Project

Hi Folks,

Energy Matters

“Mayor says yes to the first 3 things on the list.”

That’s all Karla Avalos-Soto, Mayor Rothschild’s Health and Human Services Advisor had to say to me in an email I got last Tuesday. By Friday I had a number of projects in motion.

This all started in late March when Karla and I met in their conference room to discuss:

1. Tell city employees about the possibility of participating in a One Can A Week virtual food drive featured on the Community Food Bank website. This makes it easier than toting food donations to the office.

2. Starting a One Can A Week program in the Sam Hughes Neighborhood after talking to John O'Dowd, the president of the neighborhood association.

3. Having the mayor recommend some business leaders who might want to become sponsors of One Can A Week.

4. Find out who I should talk to in Karla’s neighborhood to begin a One Can A Week program there.

In the follow up email to her succinct note the day before Karla wrote:

“1) I will ask mayor to check in with the dept. heads to let them know about the program and your meeting request. After that I can get back with you so you can proceed.

2) I think mayor was going to talk to Mr. Dowd but I will clarify.

3) I will ask mayor about sponsorship ideas and a meeting.”

I know John O’Dowd because he’s the one who told me how to soundproof the Miles School Gym last year. I called him first thing Wednesday morning and left a message. Right after lunch he called back and we talked for some time. That conversation produced a meeting with the Sam Hughes Neighborhood Association Executive Committee on May 21st and information that a new fraternity in the neighborhood, Theta Chi was looking to engage in more neighborhood community service.

That evening my friend Davis Bauer at Sigma Alpha Mu sent me names and numbers so I could call the president of Theta Chi. Friday I spoke to and then emailed Tony Garvey the chapter president. He replied Sunday night.

“Peter, I forwarded your email to my community service chair. As the semester comes to a close, it is hard to start planning anything else this semester. School is over this week and guys won't be in town anymore. My community service chair did say that he would be contacting you for more information for next semester community service. Thank you for your time.”

One of my goals is to encourage more folks in the Sam Hughes Neighborhood to get as involved in One Can A Week as the Abbott Family at the Rincon Market. If this past week is any indication, we going to achieve that important milestone in the fall.

All’s well …
A couple of months back, Gary Hardy, a participant at the Academy Village, called to say some folks from the Empire High School in Vail would be contacting me soon. They were interested in starting a One Can A Week program. That call never came until today. Matt Donaldson, Empire’s principal wanted to apologize for something or other and I assured him when things go slow or never happen, I know how the story ends. I sell ideas all of the time and no reaction means no. So I press on.

At the close of our conversation Matt told me he had over 200 cans of food the students collected and wondered if I could pick them up. That’s happening today around noon.

Nobody calls than somebody calls and I get to take nearly 200 lbs. of food to the Food Bank. I’m happy and I know Gary will be, too. Sometimes nothing is something.

We collected a total of 184 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $26.00, a $25.00 check and $1.00 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

224th Week Update - Miles Neighborhood One Can A Week Project

Hi Folks,

… UPDATE …

Just a Bump in the Road
On Thursday I picked up the remaining food bank boxes at the Mayor’s office. When I got home I sent Mayor Rothschild an email expressing my sadness because the program was over.

Within an hour he replied, stating emphatically, “we have not ended the program.” Then he went on to say, “I must admit I have not gotten the response I would like … we will continue to try to collect.”

Great, he’s not giving up … and I’m not giving up … and there’s another reason why I voted for him.

The Mayor’s office donated 28 lbs. of food this week.

Coordinating Efforts

“We’re now talking to the same folks, and we don’t want to confuse things.

Part of the discussion in Tuesday’s meeting covered One Can A Week’s involvement with the Rincon Market. A converted mayonnaise jar with a simple sign—generating from $90 - $260 per week—made quite a hit and sparked a little competitive show and tell. A minute or two after presenting the Rincon Market’s collection jar, the Community Food Bank’s green bucket suddenly made an appearance. Pictured from the left, Lou Medran, Food Drive and Gleaning Coordinator, Melissa Wieters, Vice President of Development, Peter Norback and Bill Carnegie, CEO, Community Food Bank.

Photo by Laura Sanchez

On April 3rd I sent an email to Jim Click asking to meet to discuss my experiences at the Rincon Market. Specifically I was hoping he might introduce me to the management of Fry’s and Safeway in Phoenix.

As a way of referencing my credibility, I mentioned both Bill Carnegie and Mayor Rothschild in the email, whom I also copied, of course. A couple of days later I was invited by Melissa Wieters to an April 22nd meeting at the Community Food Bank.

I figured the main focus would be on my Rincon Market story so I prepared a thorough chronology of how Barbara Farragut and I began the process of collecting food at supermarkets. It was three months into One Can A Week and the assistant manager at Safeway on Campbell and Broadway let us set up a table. This new approach to collecting food was Barbara’s idea. When Safeway collections ended because we were not on their official charity promotion list, I moved over to the Rincon Market and the Sunflower Market.

To help create a solid visual image of the Rincon Market’s program I brought along a duplicate of the actual donation jar which collects a minimum of $400 each month. That former mayonnaise jar did its job and captured everyone’s attention.

I also explained that all I want from those huge supermarket retailers is permission to place a collection jar somewhere in each store and a Community Food Bank box with a large One Can A Week sign on it. Since there are only 18 Safeway store in Tucson, it would keep me busy but I could manage picking up the donations each week.

Since I had this golden opportunity to speak to top management at the food bank, I also put another idea in my folder.

To switch subjects, I said, and I quote because I had it written down: “When people think about hungry kids as often as they think about their own need to eat, hunger in America will go away.”

“Make Them Think” Campaign
Bill Carnegie was the catalyst for this idea When we talked during the Volunteer Appreciation gathering at the Tucson Art Museum a couple of weeks ago he said people are not aware of the many reasons we have hunger in America.

Since that conversation I have been thinking about unique ways to educating folks without saying the word education. This brought to mind a Halls Mentho-Lyptus spot that ran in my hometown of St. Louis some time back. It only lasted 10 seconds and showed a close up shot of an older, round faced gentleman popping a lozenge into his mouth. He then spends the rest of the precious seconds scrunching his face in response to the sour taste.

The announcer in a voice-over said: “Halls Menthol-Lyptus throat lozenges – Anything that tastes that bad has got to be good.”

Sales of Halls doubled in the next couple of weeks simple because the company was truthful and provocative in telling that truth by mocking themselves a bit.

Food Bank 10 Second PSA Spot
Two spots were presented but one will do here. The image is a back shot of a big kid sitting next to a regular sized kid at a school lunch table. The Community Food Bank logo is on the bottom of the frame. The voice-over announcer says: “Guess which kid spends the least amount of money on food?” (Pregnant pause) “Guess again.”

The provocative aspect of this commercial is the viewer is mocked a bit and the answer will only be clear to those who understand diet and weight control. Cheap food contains the least amount of nutrients and the highest amount of fat and sugar. Six of these PSAs only take up 1 minute of airtime but will have a profound effect because they will run daily.

Bill really liked the educational aspect of the PSA spot idea and will get back to me shortly after he returns from vacation. So all in all, that was one of the best and most productive One Can A Week meetings I have had in some time.

Special Note: No response from Mr. Click yet.

When School’s Out
Nina Straw, the Tucson Blessings in a Backpack coordinator covering Bloom Elementary (near Pantano and E. Pima) sent me an email Tuesday bringing me up to date on her critical work.

Blessing in a Backpack, she wrote, ”…feeds 68-73 children every Friday with a weekend backpack containing 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches and a snack 38 weekends during the school year. We are supposed to get another 150 children next year from Schumaker Elementary which is closing, and many of those children might be eligible for our program. It costs us $80.00 to feed one child for the entire school year, or $2.10 a weekend.

“We are having a huge fundraiser Saturday, May 4th at HARLEY DAVIDSON. If you could spread the word, we would appreciate it. We need to raise a lot more money in hopes of feeding all who needs it.”

Besides being my birthday, May 4th is going to be a great day to hang around Tucson Harley Davidson. They will have all kinds of family activities starting at 9 am and lasting until near sunset. Put it on your calendar. Tucson Harley Davidson is located at 7355 N I-10 EB Frontage Road. Call 520-751-3380 for more information and then party on.

Just Plain Beautiful

One of the eight artful and intriguing Tuffets in our Arroyo Chico Park

You have to see these magnificent Tuffets for yourself because no photograph could do them justice. Mary Lucking an artist from Phoenix created these magical tile and cement Tuffets with images so exciting you see something new every time you look at them. The colors are amazingly vivid and there is humor in every corner of the circular seat.

To tell you the truth, there should be little plain curved stone benches around these terrific pieces of art so you can sit and just stare at them. I for one cannot bring myself to park my bottom on them out of a deep respect for the artist and her inspiring work.

Go take a walk in the park and see if you don’t agree that we are very lucky to live here in the Miles Neighborhood.

UA Campus Pantry Update
Davis Bauer got enough of a break from his finals and LSAT classes to drop me a line. The Pantry Board decided to eliminate the Cat Points requirement and they “had by far the biggest turnout of the year this past month.” They also expanded board membership and experienced “quite the influx of applications.”

The sorority program is growing also. “Two more sororities are looking to get on the bandwagon next semester.”

What a great way to end the school year and kick off the next.

We collected a total of 164 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $42.00, a $25.00 check and $17.00 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter