Help from US BUF'ers

[gopostal]

Guys our National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive is tomorrow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z3iHh-f6V4&feature=player_embedded#!
Don't forget the drive if you can spare a few cans. We all bullshit with each other and carry on but this is a real deal need. I've carried mail for 20 years and my wife is a grade school teacher. We see the kids who can't bring much for lunch, who are hungry over the summer school break. It's real and it's all around you.

We do a discreet weekend program to send food home with kids in their backpacks (the other kids do not know it's placed in the needy kids bags) but it's almost nothing compared to the overall needs that we see every day. Families are hungry and it's tough. Most pantries are drying up because donations are down. They depend on our drive to restock for a large portion of the year.

There's no money involved, it's just food. I can promise you that it goes where it is needed and it starts getting there tomorrow night. Do a little something and toss some cans in your mailbox. It's just a little thing but I PROMISE you it makes a difference.

We crossed one billion pounds of food collected last year and this year we'd like to get to 90 million for the day. Thanks for considering it!

 

[Zxanphorian]

Thanks but no thanks. My problem with these national food, etc drives is accountability. How do I know the food and resources will get to people who are actually in need, or how would I know if it does make a difference. Also these things rarely make a difference in my local community. Not to mention the waste of resources in the overhead and logistics of delivering the goods.

That's why I prefer community-based drives. I volunteer in a local food pantry run by the community churches. That way, I know that the food gets to the folks that are truly needy, and I know that it makes a difference, and helps out my community. There's nothing more satisfying than when a patron comes up and thanks me for helping them. I also donate to THON, the Penn State Dance Marathon, which raises money for the kids with pediatric cancer. The money goes toward cancer research and patient care in the Penn State medical center in Hershey, PA. I also donate blood to a local blood bank.

Unless it is governmental aid, or for humanitarian/crisis reasons such as the Red Cross, I don't see the need and viability for these national programs. The best way to go about it is to get involved in these things within your own community. It is more efficient and effective, and you get to know the people who you help!

Sorry for kind of raining on your parade, but that's how I feel.

 

[M.A.D.X.W]

How do I know the food and resources will get to people who are actually in need

Why would people who don't need food want food.

 

[ambershee]

Because people are greedy.

 

[Big-Al]

yes it is true that alot of "charity" doesn't end up with those it is intended to end up with.

It is better to give directly sadly enough. ... but hey, charity starts at home!

But seriously, if some of you are well of and want to help someone... you probably already have a fiend who could benifit from your help directly. honest.

 

[gopostal]

That's why I prefer community-based drives.

The food you donate never leaves your community. There's no national food pantry that the collected food is sent to. It goes to local churches, food banks, public assistance agencies.

I don't really want to debate the validity of the largest single-day food drive in the US and whether it is "trustworthy". A hundred local food drives run over the course of weeks will not get anywhere near what we collect in a single day over just a few routes. We've collected over a billion pounds with a collective 20 days work. There is no other program anywhere near as "efficient and effective".

 

[Capt.Toilet]

While you think it may be for a good cause, I just don't trust any sort of charity. Good luck.

 

[M.A.D.X.W]

I just don't trust any sort of charity.

Beautiful

 

[[GU]elmur_fud]

Guys our National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive is tomorrow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z3iHh-f6V4&feature=player_embedded#!
Don't forget the drive if you can spare a few cans. We all bullshit with each other and carry on but this is a real deal need. I've carried mail for 20 years and my wife is a grade school teacher. We see the kids who can't bring much for lunch, who are hungry over the summer school break. It's real and it's all around you.

We do a discreet weekend program to send food home with kids in their backpacks (the other kids do not know it's placed in the needy kids bags) but it's almost nothing compared to the overall needs that we see every day. Families are hungry and it's tough. Most pantries are drying up because donations are down. They depend on our drive to restock for a large portion of the year.

There's no money involved, it's just food. I can promise you that it goes where it is needed and it starts getting there tomorrow night. Do a little something and toss some cans in your mailbox. It's just a little thing but I PROMISE you it makes a difference.

We crossed one billion pounds of food collected last year and this year we'd like to get to 90 million for the day. Thanks for considering it!

The company I work for is sponsoring this locally. Besides all the bags that are mailed to houses around town we are donating $20k+ in food I think. Not sure what the exact figures are but I have been on a sales push lately to try and sell more as the company was adding to the tally of what they would donate for every dollar over our average sales for that day.

 

[Twrecks]

It was a good day to clear the cupboards of items that had been lurking too long, much better use than landfill. PPL just don't seem to realize how f'upped the US really is, and how many Americans are face down with brown fans. Thanks to those who gave.