147th Week Update - Miles Neighborhood Food Collection Project

Hi Folks,

You Can Feel the Pain in His Heart

It was pretty obvious that Bill Carnegie, CEO of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona loves his job. Months back, as he took Bobby Rich from MIXfm and me on a personal tour of the huge warehouse facility—which in itself is an indication of the huge problem he oversees—Bill talked glowingly about his up-to-date food distribution center and the numerous programs they have in place to feed the needy in Tucson.

The ever-increasing demand for food is the reason the
Community Food Bank’s shelves are often empty.

Just a few days ago I received a copy of Nourishing News, their quarterly newsletter. In his "A Note from the President" column, Bill’s presentation was a bit more somber. "Four years ago,” he wrote, “we were assisting about 98,000 men, women and children each month; today that number is 235,000. We are nervous about the future."

Well, considering the planet Earth is now home to more than 7 billion humans as calculated by the UN Population Fund and growing 220,980 more souls daily, we all should be nervous right along with Bill. If we don't all take this problem seriously, Mother Nature, in the long run, will correct the situation. And that won't be pretty.

In the short term, while we create those long-term programs to modify human behavior, there is something we can do right now. Be fair.

Those two words seem to have disappeared from the lexicon of those in congress, the health care industry, the oil companies, and the financial institutions. Actually it appears most of the significant organizations running our society have lost their sense of fairness.

But then there are those rays of hope slicing through the darkness. For instance, the National Football League sets up its annual draft of the newest and brightest players by ranking teams in reverse order based on the prior season's record. Then they allow the worst team to pick first. Spreading the talent around and helping the less fortunate in the NFL just makes good business sense. Who’s going to attend or watch a game where the downtrodden keep on getting more down troddened.

One of the first things our parents and teachers encourage us to do in our early socialization process is to share. It, too, makes good sense and it makes for peaceful and productive communities. Why this concept becomes alien to many adults who have some bucks in the bank and a lust for power in their hearts is one of those great mysteries of life.

In the 1960s when materialism became the all-consuming goal here in America, it was said, “the one who dies with the most toys, wins.” This is an axiom with an interesting and profound word choice. Aren’t toys for kids and aren’t kids supposed to share on their way to becoming caring adults?

Bill, and the rest of us, wouldn’t have to be so nervous about the future if the answer to those two questions is a simple “Yes.”

Keep the Cereal Coming
Breakfast food is not the cheapest product on the supermarket shelves but lots of folks are stepping up to take care of the kids. Every week we donate stacks of cereal boxes which, in turn, helps keep kids healthy and productive in the classroom.

We collected a total of 156 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $42.50, $7.50 in cash and two checks for $35.00.

See you Sunday,

Peter