17th Week Update - Miles Neighborhood Food Collection Project

Hi Folks,

Last Thursday Ernesto Portillo of the Arizona Star wrote a terrific update to his March column titled "'One Can A Week' food collection keeps growing." It was all about how the Miles Neighborhood is growing in its generosity and commitment to the Community Food Bank. It you missed Neto's column, here is a link: http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/290907.php

To help Neto get a sense how things were expanding I calculated the average weekly donation of food in our first quarter to the first 4 weeks in this, our second quarter. You will be surprised to learn that we donated on average 117 lbs. per week in the first quarter and 247 lbs per week so far in the second quarter. This is incredible! No wonder Barbara, Lenny, Kym and I are so motivated. We sensed there was a lot of energy going on but now we know for sure.

Planning Ahead
One of our neighbors on 12th street was about to go on vacation for a month so they decided to give us a whole box of canned vegetable soup. (Check out the bottom of the cart.) “That should cover them for the time they are away,” they said. It’s really great that folks are thinking about the needs of the Community Food Bank even when they are away having fun.

Really Making A Difference
This week we donated 264 lbs. of food and $13.75 in cash to the Community Food Bank. This is just 2 lbs. shy of our best week so our averages are going up. I couldn't be more proud of you.

Getting Other Neighborhoods To Join Us
I spoke to John O'Dowd's office late Monday. Mr. O'Dowd is president of the Sam Hughes Neighborhood Association. I was told to send a letter requesting a spot on the agenda for the Sam Hughes Neighborhood Association meeting in June. That letter will go out Wednesday. They are having a meeting on May 19th at 7 PM at the Himmel Park Library. I will attend just to introduce myself. Also, I will keep you posted as to my progress so you can tell you friends in Sam Hughes what to expect.

A Perfect Match
A good friend of my business partner has decided to collect donations for the Community Food Bank in his rather large development near Speedway and Pantano. He got the concept of our One Can A Week door to door pickup service right away. And why shouldn't he? He's energetic and a just retired UPS driver. He especially likes the part about leaving Thanks You cards and future pick up notices. He said he's really good at that. I laughed, of course.

See you next Sunday.

Peter