Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Food For Families Drive - 2009

A yearly event, the Food for Families Food Drive was in full swing when I peddled through the line this morning. It was another chilly morning (36 degrees and 15 mph winds) when I left the house. Of course, showing up on a bike cause some talk and a few laughs on site, but hey, I figure if a girl on a bike can donate, no one else has an excuse not to participate, right?

Last year, I filled up the bike at Kroger with generic non-perishables. This year I wanted to be a bit more mindful, so I went to one of our two locally-owned grocery stores (Village Foods) and bought all organic supplies - mac&cheese, canned beans, spice packets (sloppy joes, taco, fajita, italian dressing, etc), ketchup, rice... And every last one of them organic.

Next, was the short bike ride to the Brazos Center where the collection takes place every year. The officer directing traffic into the donation areas gave me an enthusiastic wave, and asked me to pull into the first line where I filled out a card indicating what I was donating - food or money or both. I marked both.

Next, I pulled up to the guys with grocery carts who were helping to unload the cars (and now, bikes). I gave them my check and bags of groceries and I headed out. It took all of maybe 10 minutes.

Seriously, if you're local, please stop by and donate what you can. Food for Families is open until 10:30 tonight at the Brazos Center. Donate food. Donate money. Whatever you can do to help the food bank feed the hungry people of the Brazos Valley.

For more information on the Food For Families Drive, visit their website at KBTX.

4 comments:

Chile said...

The neighborhood where we'll be taking you to check out Christmas lights hosts a Food Bank collection during the festival. Unfortunately, they are starting the lights later this year and I've been wondering how that will affect the donations received. Thanks for the reminder that I need to get some things for them.

hmd said...

Chile - Any idea why they are starting later?

Chile said...

I haven't seen anything saying why but I have my guesses. More people are moving out of that neighborhood and the new residents don't necessarily choose to decorate to the same extent or at all. Some houses are also empty while sitting on the market for months.

The cost of the electricity is probably a factor. I know that drove a switch to LEDs for the common areas a few years ago.

I also suspect the inconvenience may be having an impact. On walk-thru nights, only local traffic is permitted but it's a pain in the rear for the residents to get in and out while the streets are packed with pedestrians, bicyclists, and horse-drawn sleighs full of people singing annoying Christmas carols.

hmd said...

My guess was the cost. But now I remember you saying they blocked off the road access. That would be tough, but I bet the scene is worth it.