National food drive: Spare a can for your fellow man
Posted
May 09 2008, 01:07 PM
by
Donna Freedman
Tomorrow is the National Association of Letter Carriers Annual Food Drive, billed as "the world's largest single-day" food-gathering effort. In the past 15 years, the drive has collected more than 750 million pounds of food, according to the U.S. Postal Service.
With the rising price of food, lower-income folks are finding it harder to put food on the table. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, some 26 million Americans are fed with help from food stamps. If you're lucky, you're not among them -- and if you're that lucky, could you spare even a little something to help others? Say, a 33-cent can of tuna?
If you live in New York City or Chicago, you're supposed to take nonperishable foods to the post office. The rest of us can leave rice, pasta, cereal, or canned soup or vegetables in bags next to our mailboxes. Letter carriers will make sure the items get delivered to local food pantries.
A bag full of hacks
There's tuna in my donation bag, of course; since I bought several dozen cans of the stuff recently, I can certainly spare it. As I filled the bag I realized that the other items were all loss leaders or frugal hacks.
The ramen was on sale for a dime each. A box of Cheerios was 50 cents thanks to a coupon and instant store rebate. A 2-pound bag of rice came from the dollar store. (It bears repeating that there is no shortage of American-grown rice. It's the imported stuff that is being rationed in some places.)
When a local grocery outlet offered a dozen eggs free with any purchase, I went in and bought a 39-cent can of pinto beans. Twice. Those cans are in the bag, too.
Tomato soup had been five for $1. Peanut butter was on sale for 99 cents and I had a 30-cents-off coupon. A box of macaroni and cheese was left behind by a tenant. The 42-ounce box of Quaker Oats cost 50 cents after a coupon and instant store rebate. (Even the bulk-buy oatmeal is 89 cents for 16 ounces.)
Finally, I put in a cake mix and a tub of ready-made frosting. After loss leaders and a rebate, the cake mix was 9 cents and the frosting was free. And yes, I know that cake is not a healthy food. But if it's some kid's birthday, to heck with nutrition for just one day.
In fact, a lot of the nonperishable food the letter carriers request is high in sodium and/or sugar. Guess what: If you're hungry, you can't afford to care. Organic milk and produce aren't in the cards if you can barely pay rent.
Go ahead, give a little
Even if you've put yourself on a strict budget, you can probably shake loose a little something for people who are hungry.
If you're utterly, completely strapped, then by all means take care of business at home. The old cliché about putting on your own oxygen mask is pretty accurate. There's no point in giving away your last jar of peanut butter if it means you can't have a brown-bag lunch tomorrow. (And if you're living that close to the bone, consider checking out your local food bank.)
But if you can find a way to leave even a dime package of ramen out for the letter carrier, by all means do so. Giving even when you're broke will remind you how lucky you are to have a way to heat up the water for that ramen and a place to sleep after supper.
In short, giving can make you feel blessed. It also helps you rethink the impulse to moan about how "broke" you are. Being unable to go out for dinner or buy new clothes as often as you used to is not broke. Having to skip a big family vacation is not broke. Deciding to keep the car another year instead of buying a new one is not broke.
Being without a scrap of food in the house and having no way of getting any is broke. If you're not in that position, think about those who are and put some tuna out by the mailbox.
