193rd Week Update - Miles Neighborhood Food Collection Project

Hi Folks,

The Idea Is All About the Numbers

Within 15 seconds of starting her documentary on One Can A Week, Molly Thrasher states how many pounds the program collected and how much money was raised. This got my attention because I usually mention our success later in my presentation. First I talk about helping the needy and how involved our Miles neighbors are in community service. Interesting.

The more I thought about it the more I realized I’ve got to change how I present One Can A Week. Our success is the most important thing because our success feeds all of those hungry folks.

So the first thing I did was redesign the header on our blog to highlight our donations. These numbers will change every quarter. (See photo above.) Then in the right hand column I posted a link to Molly’s video. Everything is a little more up front which is really how it should be. “Cut to the chase” is how Molly might phrase it.

By the way, if you have not viewed Molly’s One Can A Week documentary, you are missing a real treat. There is intrigue and exciting plot development. She is a good story teller and everyone is delighted with her creativity.

Bill Carnegie, CEO of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona figures prominently in the plot and he, too, is a good story teller. After viewing the documentary, Bill emailed me saying, “I sent it on to the folks at Feeding America.”

This is quite an endorsement for Molly’s work because Bill is one who always insists on the highest level of professionalism and integrity, especially when it involves him personally, his office and the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.

Check out the video and I know you will want to send the link to your friends. It is that good.


Talking One Can A Week to the Kids
Today at 8:30 I made a presentation to the middle schoolers responsible for the One Can A Week program at the Miles School. Their teacher, Tiffany Kassel introduced me and then we watched the One Can A Week documentary.


Photo by Molly Thrasher

 There were no fast moving cartoon characters on the screen, just a couple of chickens and some highly motivated ants that make a brief appearance, yet these students sat quietly for 10 minutes and watched the whole video with rapt attention.

Tiffany’s insistence on respect for others in her classroom is working incredible well. These are high energy students but one word from her quiets everything down immediately. I have to tell you, I was more impressed with their presentation than mine.

To promote One Can A Week to their fellow students, they created dozens of posters which they hung throughout the school. They also make a weekly announce on the PA system and surprisingly enough, many of the students were vying for the job.

After the period, Tiffany asked me to stay a few minutes while they collected the food from the other classrooms. In less than 10 minutes they were back with lots of food. Their donation amounted to 60 lbs. this week.

This is the third year for One Can A Week at the Miles School. Not only are the students learning about helping others in need, they are also getting into sticking and staying.

61¢ Short of Perfection
This week at the Rincon Market the customers donated exactly $135.00. Once the count is done, the next step is to go shopping in the grocery section of the market. It’s always a guessing game to determine exactly how much food to put into the cart. Most weeks I have too little food and have to do more shopping or I have too much food and have to put some back.

This week Jacob the cashier swiped the last item in my cart and the total on the register came up to $134.39. Amazing, a record. While we were celebrating, Don Overall, a weekly contributor to One Can A Week walked up to me, handed me $2.00 and then quickly walked away. Oh nuts, I had more money to spend and nothing in the cart. That makes me short again. Goodbye, record.

A few minutes later I saw Don in the dining area and showed him the sales receipt. After a brief explanation, we both looked at each other, paused a second and then broke out laughing. There was no record set and I still have to continue guessing how much food equals how much money, but Don and I now have a very funny story to share.

We collected a total of 232 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $42.00, a $25.00 check and $17.00 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter