No donations of food for those less fortunate from Sebastopol folks?

Please donate food for those less fortunate
IF
or WHEN

you can.

Blessings...

:heart::heart::heart::heart::heart:

This brought tears .... I'm going thru my pantry right now, and will buy some stuff if I can't find anything worth donating. OMG ... I feel a combination of shame, and deep, deep sadness ... thinking of the volunteer coming each week to find an empty bin breaks my heart.

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Posted in reply to the post by lindasw:

For three---almost four----months now, a food donation bin has sat inside of Community Market at the Barlow. Not one can of soup, not one bag of noodles, not one package of ramin has been donated to this bin.

The donation bin sits right at the entrance, right next to the stack of green handbaskets near the flowers. Some customers use it for trash, even though it is clearly marked, "food drive". One employee bought $15. worth of food just to "seed" the bin, thinking of the psychology behind people not wanting to be the first to drop in a donation or two. That didn't work either.

And so, the bin sits empty, yet diligent volunteers from this non-profit appear every Tuesday to check for a single can of soup or one lonely box of cereal. Yet nothing more has appeared since the "seeding effort".....

In a county of abundance, where we are so fortunate and so lucky to live where we live and to have what we have, this puzzles me. Where are the generous spirits and shoppers among us who can afford to put a little something inside a bin to feed the hungry or to feed the children of those affected and impacted by HIV/AIDS?

Please donate if or when you can.
Blessings...
:heart::heart::heart::heart::heart:

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This is sad to hear. I will make a point of stopping by Community Market. Thanks for pointing out the bin location. I have been there once and did not notice it. And yes we are very very blessed here in our beautiful neck of the woods. Thanks for the reminder that helping is what it is all about...
Sincerely,
Deborah

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Posted in reply to the post by lindasw:

For three---almost four----months now, a food donation bin has sat inside of Community Market at the Barlow. Not one can of soup, not one bag of noodles, not one package of ramen has been donated to this bin....

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Could it be that this bin is very low key, and doesn't create much attention? What about Community Market putting a picture of a hungry family, like the ones that are online where Food Stamps haven't been received for months due to computer glitch? A picture is worth a thousand words. Maybe even add a picture of cats/dogs/kittens and puppies. They all suffer hunger. I can't imagine that if people who shop at Community Market noticed this, they would give generously. Let's see if they step up to the challenge of conscious awareness and generosity. Wanna place some bets? Anyone? Who's the spokesperson for CM? What can be done? What kind of incentive do people need, who can buy without a consideration for price?

I recently went to CM for the first time. I saw some cat grass, without a price, and figured it's probably high, like other things, so I passed it up. Once in line, a woman behind me put some on the belt, and I asked how much it was. Her reply was "I don't know. I just buy it because my cat loves it." Nice position to be in. I wonder if she saw the donation bin.....

I didn't see it myself, and I pride myself on being pretty aware. So, CM what can you do? Have a community contest to see who can come up with the winning graphic for the food donation bin, and give them a $50 gift certificate that they can in turn donate to the food bin. Other ideas? Sebastopol isn't my community, but I do believe that some caring, kind, compassionate and imaginative people live and shop there, with no concerns about price. They would be perfectly conscious contributors!

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Posted in reply to the post by Deborah:

This is sad to hear. I will make a point of stopping by Community Market. Thanks for pointing out the bin location. I have been there once and did not notice it. And yes we are very very blessed here in our beautiful neck of the woods. Thanks for the reminder that helping is what it is all about...
Sincerely,
Deborah

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Just checked to see if food donations had been given to this outfit, who joined only to post this event. Did anyone donate?

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Posted in reply to the post by gatsbygala:

Nami Sonoma County is hosting a Gatsby Gala event in the McDonald Mansion in Santa Rosa on September 21st. The date is rapidly approaching, and in order to make the event as amazing as possible, we need food!
If any farm or store has any overstock on food, we would greatly appreciate it! We really need:
eggs
tri-tip

https://www.waccobb.net/forums/wacco...7_11-23-26.png

chicken
seasonal veggies
whiskey/bourbon
non-alcoholic beverages
lemons
mint
Sugar
Creamer
salt
pepper
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Peaches
If you can donate, please email us at let us know what you can! Also email us if you are interested in the event! Thank you.

https://gatsby-gala.org/

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In the old world they had coopers that traveled in wagons and fixed peoples pots and things, perhaps Sebastopol could have a strange makers cart that would do the same and also collect canned goods that needed to be replaced?

Goat cart, horse cart, bike cart or back pack cart?

Where there is vision the people prosper, where there is none the people perish.

After my initial response post, I had another thought this morning, and the contrast in generosity between Sebastopol and Rohnert Park is pretty obvious, if we were comparing.

The food bins at various stores in Rohnert Park, always have something in them, wherever I shop. Only a few months ago, maybe it was December, probably a Xmas dinner drive, Safeway was selling bags of canned and packaged foods for a $10 donation. Their barrels were stuffed. After buying one, I checked the contents, which was what the Food Bank usually gives.

If Community Market did this kind of thing, the bags would have healthier choices. It might even have to cost $20 or $25, and there would be reminder signs at every checkstand. Soon I imagine there will be reminder signs that plastic bags are no longer supplied. We all need reminders. The stores themselves have to place a value on what they ask of customers, and show it in their actions.

How does Whole Foods handle this? Anyone know?

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Posted in reply to the post by Shandi:

Just checked to see if food donations had been given to this outfit, who joined only to post this event. Did anyone donate?

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I rather hope not.

NAMI is a non-profit; but they had to have some gall to ask ordinary people for donations to this posh event at the Macdonald Mansion, with tickets starting at $100: https://gatsby-gala.org/.

Google "nami gatsby gala"

Hi Shandi,

Good comments... I might also add that sometimes people get burned out on bad news and like advertising might unfortunately tune out so they can cope better.

Perhaps something like "SHOW GRATITUDE FOR YOUR ABUNDANCE. ~ Please give food to those who are less fortunate than you. Thank you for showing kindness to your neighbors."

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Posted in reply to the post by Shandi:

Could it be that this bin is very low key, and doesn't create much attention? What about Community Market putting a picture of a hungry family....

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yes, tumbleweed, and there also is that real and true thing called, "donor fatigue"....

now that LBJ's war on poverty is a distant memory in our government's mind... and, now that the poor/limited income folks, disabled folks, folks living with incurable illness and all of us on the line in-between have been deemed unworthy of support by those to whom we pay our taxes, all hands are outstretched toward those with the means to lend a helping hand--to all critters, four-legged and two...and to the hungry across the board...

news in our world is overwhelming most of the time..all we can do for our neighbors and for our planet is do what we can, when we can, starting in our very own neck of the woods...

what a great suggestion for the folks at food for thought food bank to hear about how to better word their donation bins' signage...sounds good to me.

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Posted in reply to the post by Tumbleweed:

Perhaps something like "SHOW GRATITUDE FOR YOUR ABUNDANCE. ~ Please give food to those who are less fortunate than you. Thank you for showing kindness to your neighbors."

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There's a lot of people who have stocked up supplies dating back to y2k, for those who are into survival preparedness and have your stockpile it is a good idea to refresh them before they go bad.

It would be worth promoting the idea of restocking. I know the Mormons do this as a religious practice but they must have some method of scheduling the use of their emergency goods. I can imagine a lot of people might take the notion to heart to freshen their supplies.

I guess there would be a consideration as to how old canned goods would still be good but I bet there's a horde of foods that could use restocking and be useful still.

There is also a food pantry anyone can donate food to at the end of st stephan's church parking lot on robinson rd near sefanoni court. They accept (and hand out) food daily every morning until noon.

I don't think that there's a shortage of places to donate food, but it entails someone actually thinking about doing it ahead of time, going through their food storage, putting things in bags, taking them to the car, and then driving them to a place to donate. With our busy lives, I wonder how many of us would actually take the time to do this? Please share your system.

But when we're at a store that has a bin for food donations, that makes the whole process a lot easier and more convenient for busy folks. I'm thinking that a lot of us throw away food that's outdated, or that we decided we don't like. If we could actually take the time to go through the steps of getting it to food banks, that would be great.

If we can't or don't want to do that, but are still in a better position than many, our best choice to give is while we're at the store. Instead of picking up one package of spaghetti, or one can of something, get two, one for you and one for "them". Let the checker know it's for the food bin. They'll make sure it gets in there.

Unless you've gone hungry, you really don't know what it's like. I find that the most generous people are those who themselves live on the edge. Many people who are financially independent, are out of the loop, and not associating with the poor, homeless and hungry. Out of sight, out of mind is pretty accurate.

Some wealthy people give to organizations, so they can get a tax write off. Putting food in a bin is anonymous, and they don't get any benefit from it. They may see those bins as places for "other" people to donate. Remember this one? "I gave at the office".

We never know when we may be in need. We think our security is guaranteed because of family wealth or a successful business. That's pretty unrealistic, and we know at a deep level that we're all very vulnerable. When TSHF will you fight off your neighbors, or invite them to share what you have? The attitude you have now, is the one you will carry into the future, until you experience a loss of financial power, equate that to the ability you now experience as the ability to buy whatever you desire, or the loss of physical or mental health, which equates with the ability to think, plan and do the things you get joy and satisfaction from.

This is what has happened to many of the homeless, who had a good job, a nice home, 2 cars and took vacations, just like you. Tragedy struck in one of it's many forms, and wiped out the life they had known. You don't know that part of them, because all you see and judge is the outer appearance, which is dirty, raggedy, and depressed. Walk a day in their shoes....if they have any.

If you're "burned out" on giving, please share your story. Maybe others can help you.

I used to shop a lot at Pacific Market, and there was one group, I think it was Food for Thought, that would have volunteers outside, handing out flyers to shoppers as they entered. The flyers would tell the shoppers what was especially needed that week, for example cereal and tomato sauce. There would always conveniently be some good deals on cereal and tomato sauce in the store. The donation bins were always close to full.

For some reason, I found it very easy to pick up food to donate when asked for something specific, I think that's a great strategy.

I'm posting a copyof my letter to Amanda, the person in charge of the donation bins, at Food For Thought.

Amanda,


I'm concerned about the empty food bins here in Sebastopol at the
new Community Market, and wonder if this a common occurance, or
perhaps customers haven't seen the bin, because of it being low key,
non-descript or otherwise not highly visible.

There's an ongoing discussion on WaccoBB, and I recommend that
you read, and respond to what's being said.

There is no reason why the affluent people who shop at Community
Market wouldn't contribute that I can think of. I think it boils down to
a lack of effective marketing. I've come up with some ideas that
involve the store manager and the community, but it should really be
a cooperative effort between FFT and the store management.

I live in Rohnert Park, and only visited CM once to realize that it was
out of my means living on Social Security, with a maximum yearly
income of just over $12,000 a year. I have to shop where the prices
are low enough for me to purchase what I need. There have been times
when I've resorted to dumpster diving. I'm a 71 year old survivor.

I have shared food directly with homeless families, done their laundry,
and provided transportation. I've also helped a mentally ill person
with various needs for the past 20 years. More so when I was working,
and less now that I'm involuntarily retired due to physical limitations.

If each person would help one other person, I think a major hunger
problem could be solved. Hunger for food, and hunger for care.

It's a great idea, however, it does involve people volunteering their time to stand and hand out flyers. A big poster with the same idea could be used, without having people handing out flyers. Getting people to volunteer to do this might be as difficult as getting donations. But I'm sure that if people from our community wanted to volunteer, Food For Thought would take them up on it. Anyone?

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Posted in reply to the post by amylinus2000:

I used to shop a lot at Pacific Market, and there was one group, I think it was Food for Thought, that would have volunteers outside, ....

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