203rd Week Update - Miles Neighborhood Food Collection Project

Hi Folks,

                      … UPDATE …

Heather Thrall from the City of Tucson, Planning & Development Services Department, the folks who approve every building permit in Tucson, emailed to say she had a food pick up. There was a sense of urgency in her words because she wanted to make sure the food arrived at the Community Food Bank before Thanksgiving. It did. Their first donation amounted to 96 lbs. of food and $25 in cash.

The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona’s donation box sits directly across from the Permits Desk. A sign placed above the box after this photo was taken encourages everyone to give cash donations if they just don’t happen to have a handy can of string beans in their back pocket.

Poor Man With A Mission is Often Mistaken for an Insurance Salesman

The provocative headline is not meant to disparage insurance salesmen or any other persistent salesperson who has a tough product to sell; one that requires a substantial commitment on the part of the buyer. It is, however, meant to highlight the fact that the word commitment is often viewed as a negative experience even when it involves very essential necessities such as a home, an automobile and taking care of our neighbors.

Friday I received a call and an invitation to dinner at the Blue Fin restaurant on Saturday night from my high school friend Ellen Adelstein. Before we hung up Ellen told me she read my latest blog on my search for a sponsor and then suggested “I sounded a little desperate.”

Well, I am desperate, but not for myself. I personally have everything I need and when thing just don’t go as planned, I change and make new plans. An old girl friend who witnessed some of my “bad days or weeks” got mad at me because she didn’t like how I would get into trouble and then suddenly things always came up “smelling like roses.” Her words.

The desperation I feel is for hungry kids, our society and folks just not caring until it falls on them. A great example is the mega storm Sandy. People say ‘Oh, my goodness” and then run off to help for a little bit. But what about those problems that are just as big, 40,000 hungry kids in Tucson. Unfortunately there are no headlines. Teachers tell me those kids are there falling asleep in the classrooms and slowing themselves and the other kids down. Bill Carnegie, CEO of the Community Food Bank tells me those kids are there because he tries to feed as many as he can every day.

What’s the solution?
Powerful people reaching out to people who have potential. A great example is General Mills’ support of 9-year-old Samantha Gordon a player on a boy’s football team in Oregon. (Click on link to view Sam “Sweet Feet” Gordon’s 1911 yards, 35 touchdowns and 65 tackles.) By placing Samantha on the Wheaties Cereal Box General Mills is helping her family, kids in general, young girls in particular and our society reconsider arbitrary rules and standards. On top of that they will also sell a heck of a lot of cereal.

Closer to home, powerful people can search for great mechanics or cooks or merchants and help them go search for great mechanics or cooks or merchants and help them go into or expand their business. Know-how is just as important as financing. This will create more jobs and fewer hungry kids. Oh, there is one catch. As in the case of General Mills, it does require a genuine commitment to our children which in turn will help in the evolution of life and humanity on this planet.

More Like a Feast
This week’s donations included lots of beans, potatoes, bananas and a big frozen ham (center of the cart). Even as we approach the fifth anniversary of One Can A Week, all of our neighbors are still very much engaged and enthusiastic about helping feed the hungry families here in Tucson. And that’s exactly as it should be. Hunger is a very large problem in our society and we can’t tire until everyone is guaranteed a healthy diet every day of the week.

We collected a total of 230 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $26.00, a $25.00 check and $1.00 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter

202nd Week Update - Miles Neighborhood Food Collection Project

Hi Folks,

Can’t Turn Back Now

When I began One Can A Week in 2009 it fit neatly into my budget. Just a little inkjet printing, just a little gas and a red patio umbrella that was on sale. Now with how the program is expanding and how people are taking to the idea especially Mayor Rothschild’s administration, I have to look for ways to extend the life of my Cabriolet and stretch my funds.

This past Friday I got an email from Heather Thrall in the City of Tucson, Planning and Development Services Department who needed a sizeable food donation pickup. After I set a pickup time and date she wrote back to say, “I commend you for your service to this community, it's beyond kind and very needed.”

With the inauguration of Mayor Rothschild’s One Can A Meeting program offices all over town collect or would like to collect food but they do not have the know-how or the way, for that matter, to deliver their donations to the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. It is just such a hassle for them and I totally understand.

So Heather is quite correct, a pick up service is “very needed.” The Community Food Bank does pick up food but they have schedules and cannot act quickly, if at all, to random calls for pick up service especially if those donations are under 50 lbs.

My next thought after reading Heather’s email was I need a One Can A Week sponsor to help me meet these new, and welcomed, I might add, expenses. Just considering the prospect of making a presentation to a prospective sponsor opened up a whole new line of thinking and work, too. Five hours later I had the first draft of a One Can A Week proposal in a file on my laptop. I’ve mentioned all of the ideas in the proposal before but have never written them down like the program’s mission, the rational for its entrepreneurial structure and so on.

For instance with regard to the organizational structure I wrote:

After creating One Can A Week I realized I could only personally collect so much food in a few hours on Sunday. (Sunday was chosen because that is the one day of the week that folks are home on a consistent basis.) I also decided that Coordinators should only work in the neighborhood in which they live.

Other criteria:
Adherence to the strict meaning of the word charity –  Every food donation and every penny is given to the Community Food Bank.

Total transparency – All donation records are based on Community Food Bank receipts only.

Entrepreneurial participation – Each neighborhood Coordinator independently initiates a One Can A Week program and is totally responsible for weekly collections and records. If there are any irregularities, the Coordinator is called into question, not the One Can A Week program.

No nonprofit status – Many people are concerned that their donations will be used for purposes other than to help individuals. The web and newspapers are filled with stories of abuses and even major charities are not immune to such shenanigans. One Can A Week will never file for nonprofit status with the IRS. This is in line with my thinking that a charity should be a totally charitable venture. Therefore, no income or expense will be paid for from any donation to One Can A Week.

Then I thought I should highlight the different aspects of One Can A Week operating here in Tucson.

There are currently 6 other neighborhoods and organizations picking up the One Can A Week gauntlet and collecting food and dollars for the Community Food Bank.

The Rincon Market on 6th Street is the prototype of the capitalistic function of the program. Patrons donate small change and dollar bills each week in a collection jar by the cash register. Those cash donations are then used to purchase can goods in the grocery section of the market. Over the past two years the Rincon Market has donated over 4.5 tons of food.

Maria Maes, a high school student in the Catalina Vista Neighborhood collects approximately 35 lbs. on average per week accumulating over a ton of food in the past two years.

Frank Flasch encouraged most of the HOAs in his Old Fort Lowell Neighborhood to participate in One Can A Week. To date they have over 9 HOA participating with more coming on board. They collect an average of 55 lbs. per month. In a year that will amount to over two tons of food.

Mayor Jonathan Rothschild’s One Can A Meeting program began in October, 2012 and involves a number of prominent organizations in Tucson such as PICOR, Lewis and Roca, Providence Services, City of Tucson, Planning and Development Services Department and The Arizona Theatre Company. These organizations will prove to be more productive in the holiday season.

The Miles School in the Miles Neighborhood is now in its third year of donating to the Community Food Bank through the One Can A Week program. Each school year a different class is assigned the task of collecting food from the other classes. In addition the students visit the food bank and learn to shop at local supermarkets.

Senior Companions a part of Our Family Services, a national volunteer service initiative is continuing their involvement in One Can A Week for another year. When asked, all the volunteers said yes to their commitment to the Community Food Bank.

There is more to the proposal and I would really appreciate your comments before I move forward. You can click on the link to view the information on the One Can A Week website.

There is no going back because there are too many parents and children to feed and besides, we do have a winning community service program on our hands. I have this feeling some community minded sponsor will step up. I just have to get the word out.

Building More than Homes
Jarrett Reidhead said he would show up in November and donate One Can A Week for all four of his properties in the Miles Neighborhood. The total was 48 cans or 12 weeks x 4 homes. That’s a significant gesture especially since his donation put us way over 200 lbs. this week.

Happy Thanksgiving, Jarrett, from all of us.

We collected a total of 254 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $57.00, a $25.00 check and $27.00 in cash.

See you Sunday,

Peter




   



One Can A Week Sponsorship Program

In the past 3 years and 11 months, One Can A Week has collected more than 23 tons of food and $10,000 in cash from the Miles Neighborhood, a working class community near Broadway and Campbell.

The end result is more than 11,900 parents and children have been fed three means in one day. And based on the buying power of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, ($1.00 = $9.50) the $10,000 donation produced the equivalent of $95,000 in food and services.

Other One Can A Week Programs in TucsonThere are currently 6 other neighborhoods and organizations picking up the One Can A Week gauntlet and collecting food and dollars for the Community Food Bank.

The Rincon Market on 6th Street is the prototype of the capitalistic function of the program. Patrons donate small change and dollar bills each week in a collection jar by the cash register. Those cash donations are then used to purchase can goods in the grocery section of the market. Over the past two years the Rincon Market has donated over 4.5 tons of food.

Maria Maes, a high school student in the Catalina Vista Neighborhood collects approximately 35 lbs. on average per week accumulating over a ton of food in the past two years.

Frank Flasch encouraged most of the HOAs in his Old Fort Lowell Neighborhood to participate in One Can A Week. To date they have over 9 HOA participating with more coming board. They collect an average of 55 lbs. per month. In a year that will amount to over two tons of food.

Mayor Jonathan Rothschild’s One Can A Meeting program began in October, 2012 and involves a number of prominent organizations in Tucson such as PICOR, Lewis and Roca, Providence Services, City of Tucson, Planning and Development Services Department and The Arizona Theatre Company. These organizations will prove to be more productive in the holiday season.

The Miles School in the Miles Neighborhood is now in its third year of donating to the Community Food Bank through the One Can A Week program. Each school year a different class is assigned the task of collecting food from the other classes. In addition the students visit the food bank and learn to shop at local supermarkets.

Senior Companions a part of Our Family Services, a national volunteer service initiative is continuing their commitment to One Can A Week for another year. When asked, all the volunteers said yes to their commitment to the Community Food Bank.

One Can A Week Programs Around the CountryA number of cities in the country including Phoenix, AZ; Millburn, NJ (near Short Hills): Atlanta, GA and Wake Forest, NC. have One Can A Week programs.

Of particular note is the Lion’s Club participation in Athens, WV. Students in a political science class at Concord University set up a One Can A Week program in an effort to replicate the level of participation we were experiencing here in Tucson. Their results were the same as ours.

Fifty percent of the neighbors in the selected neighborhood participated in the program on a consistent basis. In addition, the students presented their findings to a local Lion’s Club that eventually took over and continued their food donation program.

One Can A Week Mission

The idea was very simple. Ask neighbors weekly to help feed the needy in Tucson by donating just One Can A Week. This request suddenly opened many serendipitous doors.

-  Nearly 50% of a neighborhood will responds weekly to the food drive.

-  Neighbors become excited and engaged in the community service program

-  Neighbors will stay involved in the program as long as the Coordinator shows up on their doorstep each week. As of November 19, 2012 neighbors in the Miles Neighborhood have participated in the One Can A Week program for 202 straight weeks.

With such a profound success rate it is now my mission to introduce One Can A Week to other neighborhoods in Tucson and around the country to help end hunger and subsequently engage at least 50% of our country’s citizens in community service.

One Can A Week Organizational Strategy

When creating One Can A Week I realized I could only personally collect so much food in a few hours on Sunday. (Sunday was chosen because that is the one day of the week that folks are home on a consistent basis.) I also decided that Coordinators should only work in the neighborhood in which they live.

Other criteria:

Adherence to the strict meaning of the word charity – Every food donation and every penny is given to the Community Food Bank.

Total transparency – All donation records are based on Community Food Bank receipts only.

Entrepreneurial participation – Each neighborhood Coordinator independently initiates a One Can A Week program and is totally responsible for weekly collections and records. If there are any irregularities, the Coordinator is called into question, not the One Can A Week program.

No nonprofit status – Many people are concerned that their donations will be used for purposes other than to help individuals. The web and newspapers are filled with stories of abuses and even major charities are not immune to such shenanigans. One Can A Week will never file for nonprofit status with the IRS. This is in line with my thinking that a charity should be a totally charitable venture. Therefore, no income or expense will be paid for from any donation to One Can A Week.

“The Food is there, we just have to pick it up.”

How to Grow One Can A Week Food Donation Pick Up and Delivery Service

We know people will donate food every week if someone visits their home. We also know, with the inauguration of Mayor Rothschild’s One Can A Meeting program that offices all over town collect or would like to collect food but they do not have the know-how or the way, for that matter, to deliver their donations to the Community Food Bank. It is just such a hassle for them.

The Community Food Bank does pick up food but they have schedules and cannot act quickly, if at all, to random calls for pick up service especially if those donations are under 50 lbs.

The Mayor is spreading the word that food donations can and should be collected in city and business offices around town. His office calls me to pick up those donations. Recently I heard from Heather Thrall in the City of Tucson, Planning and Development Services Department. After I arranged the donation pick she sent me an email, “I commend you for your service to this community, it's beyond kind and very needed.”

Presentation to Schools, Churches and Clubs

Now that One Can A Week has an impressive track record it is time to contact and make presentations to organizations around town. All this requires is printed brochures, gas money and a reliable vehicle.

Current Costs and Expenditures

Several years ago Quaker Foods gave me a $500 grant which covered gas and signage for the Cabriolet and volunteer hand carts. Also a friend gave me a 1992 Ford Taurus which lasted several years. It had to be junked recently. He also provided an HP Laptop. Another friend gave $150 for gas, auto repair and printing expenses. Everything else I about $400 from teaching the computer.

How a Sponsor Can Help

At this juncture, a $1,000 per month sponsorship would meet all of my needs allowing me to pay for auto insurance, auto maintenance, gas, brochures and the like. I built One Can A Week to what it is today on my social security income, imagine what I can do with a little more revenue.

What is the Benefit for a Sponsor?

There’s good will for you, your company or organization, of course, but just as important is the fact that you are supporting the engine of a very successful and unique community service program, not just giving money to an established charitable organization.

As with all One Can A Week participants, you will receive quarterly reports on how your “charitable investment” is doing.

If you become a sponsor and you deem it appropriate, the name of your company or organization will appear in the Weekly Email Update, the blog websites and on all One Can A Week promotional materials and signage.



Community Food Bank Receipt




One Can A Week Quarterly Report

 



SPECIAL NOTE: Please make checks payable to Peter G. Norback and mail to: 1428 E. Miles Street, Tucson, AZ 85719.

One Can A Week is not a business entity and does not have a checking account. One Can A Week is a charity concept in the public domain.



201st Week Update - Miles Neighborhood Food Collection Project

Hi Folks,

Williams Center dentist

takes a bite out of hunger

“Hi, Peter, How are you?” the man said as he stuck out his hand. He was dressed in a sharp U of A Football fan outfit with big “A” sun glare stickers under his eyes. Those things were hard to ignore. I found myself staring at them all the while we talked.

It was Saturday morning at the Rincon Market and I was deeply engaged in rolling coins from the past week’s donations. As I stood up to shake the man’s hand I suddenly recognized him. It was my dentist, Dr. Su-Wen Chang.

I have a deep respect for this man for two reasons: He’s a highly skilled dentist and he also has a very charming chairside manner. Before he ever says “open wide” he takes a few minutes just to talk. He knows about One Can A Week and he remembers our conversations. I’m always amazed at his ability to picks up right where we left off even if it’s been many months since I’ve had an appointment. I don’t know about you, but I can’t even get my close friends to do that.

Dr. Chang said that he just had a birthday and he told his staff that instead of gifts he wanted everyone to donate to the Community Food Bank through One Can A Week. He suggested I call Carmen, his receptionist … and everything else important at the front desk for that matter … to set up a time to pick up the donations.

When I arrived to make the pick up, Dr. Chang greeted and escorted me back to the lunch room. There on the floor were a half dozen stuffed shopping bags. It took three of us to carry them to my car.

With my disdain for suffering of any kind, I love going to the dentist because I know within an hour or so of plopping down in the chair my troubles will be behind me. And with the way Dr. Chang takes care of me, I’m now finding that I even enjoy getting the bill in the mail. It’s turned from a reminder of a financial obligation to a thought of a friend I care a great deal about.

Everyone needs a dentist but everyone needs a Dr. Chang more. Please give him a call the next time a tooth starts to take over your life. (520) 748-8186.

My Kingdom for an Alternator

The battery and alternator light started to wink at me on Monday. Not too often and not with any regularity. Initially I thought the battery cable had shimmied loose. It had but did not solve the problem of blinking warning lights. Then a few days later those two red lights came on and stayed on. And as in the past my considerate Cabriolet was just a few blocks from home allowing me to park in my driveway and sigh in relief. (Notice the Cabriolet resting in the background.)

That was Friday and enough time to get a new alternator but my SS ship does not come in for four more days. This means I was forced to create a new way of collecting the food. The answer turned out to be a hand truck, a duct taped plastic bin and a comfortable pair of shoes.

About half way through my rounds on Sunday I walked up to Aaron’s front porch, hand truck in tow. Immediately he asked me, “What happened to the Cabriolet?” I told him and he said without hesitation, “Oh, you now have a Cabrioleg.”

That was a really funny thing to say and it made me chuckle. What do shrinks say? “If you can name it, you can live with the situation.” Well, I now have a Cabrioleg, not a hand truck and a taped on bin. All is good.

Photo Direction by Mike Eddy

Early Thanksgiving
This year and for the last two years, Kristin Broksas my friend and former neighbor has cooked up a terrific Thanksgiving dinner by herself. And all she asks of her guests is for them to bring a food donation for the Community Food Bank.

Since I had transportation problems, I could not attend this year’s epicurean delight so Kristin delivered the donations she generated to my home on Sunday. Obviously the festivities were a huge success because the food her guest brought stuffed a 3-foot long fabric grocery bag.

This I know. The food and the conversation is the best at Kristin’s Thanksgiving dinner. I also know this … next year I going to have a backup transportation plan.

We collected a total of 308 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $57.00, a $25.00 check and $27.00 in cash.

Special Note: With the Rincon Market’s 114 lbs. and Catalina Vista’s 88 lbs. One Can A Week accounted for 510 lbs. of food this week. Yes!

See you Sunday,

Peter

200th Week Update - Miles Neighborhood Food Collection Project

Hi Folks,

Best Economic Indicator Ever

There’s the Monthly Jobs Report and the Monthly Housing Starts. They “indicate” what is happening on the national front but seldom mean much to us personally. And since one report has been ticking down lately and the other ticking up, we still do not have a sense of how things are really going.

My economic indicator, donations at the Rincon Market have been running flat all year which means the breakfast, lunch and dinner crowd has been flat, too. Then in September there was a slight increase or tick if you will. The first two weeks in October followed suite. One week later there was a significant jump and that lasted two weeks.

The first week in November saw for the first time since the “Great Recession” began, donations that are on par with what we collected in the past. This is a very exciting “local indication” because it reflects a marked increase in the Rincon Market’s breakfast, lunch and dinner crowd.

And with the election ending and the incredible clean up and repair starting on the east coast money will be flowing into jobs and infrastructure renovation. This will make even more folks hungry for one of those terrific meals at the Rincon Market. And then One Can A Week gets to feed lots of needy families, too.

One final thought on America’s essential auto industry and women and gays and pushy religion … please VOTE today.

Sisterly Love
Lenny, our 12th Street volunteer was all smiles when I picked up his collection this week. He handed me an envelope and when I looked inside I understood his delight.

Last year Patricia Cota-Robles, Lenny’s sister donated $500.00 to the Community Food Bank. Again this year Patricia’s organization, New Age Study of Humanity’s Purpose gave another $500.00 check to the Food Bank.

I appreciate everything Lenny’s does for One Can A Week and I’m glad his sister does, too.

We collected a total of 200 lbs. of food. The money we donated amounted to $564.00, $550.00 in checks and $14.00 in cash.

PS. Of little note or little importance, we collected 200 lbs. of food in our 200th week.

See you Sunday,

Peter