Turkey Math

• 5 truckloads of turkeys with 22 pallets on each truck = 110 pallets
• 110 pallets with 40 cases on each pallet = 4,400 cases of turkeys
• 4,400 cases of turkey with 4 in each case = 17,600 turkeys
• Then throw in another 310 turkeys donated to the total = 17,910 turkeys
• 17,910 turkeys that average 15 lbs.=  268, 650 pounds

That is what we have sent out over the last five weeks from the food bank.  My team and I have picked up all 4,400 cases by hand to go out to agencies.  No wonder my back is tired this morning.  This last week was the busiest week ever (as you would expect).  The strain of demand and tired backs eventually led to short tempers.  No wonder my brain is fried.  I really want to be mad at something/anything. I saw signs of greed among the greatest most compassionate group of customers you could imagine, not a good thing at all.  My natural inclination is capture all the things that went wrong, address all the issues to build better stronger systems for next year.  The reality is if all the systems were not strained it would mean we were overstaffed and systems overbuilt for the rest of the year.  So sure I can make a list of things to do differently, then neatly file it away until next September.  At that time we will all be ready to listen about Thanksgiving distribution.  The part I can’t let go is hurt feelings, words spoken in anger, and division.  While the back will be fine with Advil and some rest the hurtful words thrown out the hang like a weight over our heads.  The words we heard and the words we said equally weigh us down.  This weight keeps us from being our best.  I will admit in my family life I have put some of those weights (words) on myself and I refuse to do anything to clear them up.  Not good I know, but this is the reality I struggle with often.  Now as far as the team/work is concerned I can’t afford to have these “weight of words” pulling us down. Going backwards to the “who said what” is useless.  The right approach is to build from the basics we all agree on like mission, our families that we are working for, and knowing that we are appreciated.  Encourage each other to focus on these things and let the petty pride issues go.  So that is my job next week, the holiday rush is over for us.  And I have all the way to Monday to get my own head right.

It’s a Puzzlement? another non hungry post

In the movie Young Frankenstein Inga (Terri Garr) announces that “it is a puzzlement”, meaning there is something about the events that have occurred that she does not understand.  Now if you want to know what she was puzzled about you need to watch the movie again.  It is way to good of a movie for me to paraphrase.  I love Terri Garr, and the movie so I have seen it many times.  This phrase pops in my brain often.  It does not come to mind when a funny situation arises, but more as an escape from an awful truth.  When anger and frustration build I think of Terri Garr announcing that it is a “puzzlement”, and somehow I feel better for some time.

On Wednesday of this week the AJC  reported that in Woodstock, Ga. a bicyclist ran into a van pulling on to the highway died.  It stated no charges were filed against the driver of the van.  I guess the bicyclist intended to commit suicide at that point in his life and purposely ran his sturdy 30 pound bike into a 5,000 lb. van to do himself in?  Earlier this year my son (Will) was riding on his bike.  A car pulled in front of him leaving him no choice but to hit the car.  The Police officer told Will that he should give him a ticket for not wearing a helmet (it is not against the law to ride without a helmet if you are over 18) before he called for an ambulance.  Will left in the ambulance, his bike and ankle destroyed.   The bike was lost, the ankle rebuilt after surgery and four days in the hospital.  The police report stated the wreck was due to Will’s failure to yield to the car!  This left Will on his own to pay for his medical bills since the driver was not a fault.  No one was given a ticket.  This is a puzzlement to me.

I knew Michelle from a previous job.  She and I connected on a personal level.  We lost touch after she moved to Florida and got married.  My last knowledge of her life was that she was very happy, and ready to have a wonderful future.  Michelle had not had an easy life to say the least.  It was comforting to know that she had overcome an extremely tough childhood, abusive relationships, and cancer to find happiness.  I learned on Thursday that she had died.  She was hit by a car while running in France.  This is a huge puzzlement.

So does this make me not want to ride my bike or run?  No not at all.  It makes me want to run and bike with a baseball bat in my hand and bash the first car that gets near me.  It makes me ride and run defensively, ready for the worst from every driver.  Knowing the police are neither help or protective.  I think I have to accept reasonable risks to do those things that makes my life full.  I also need to live in the present knowing life, health, and pleasant circumstances are not guaranteed.

Now that I have that out of my system what am I going to do about all these people who are hungry?

Thinking really big thoughts

This week I have read “How The Irish Saved Civilization” by Thomas Cahill,  The Best of Outside Magazine copyright 1997, and my Living Faith Daily Devotional.  I also have read other blogs discussing similar subjects to mine.  Throw in the daily newspaper online, and some CNN.  My time to take in all these influences and meld them together was my 30 minutes a day bike commute, and my normal journal/meditation/sleep time of the 45 minute morning bus ride.  I also had a very healthy comment exchange with an atheist blogger.

So out of this week I keep thinking My God that I believe in keeps becoming bigger (bigger than any known religion), and Gods presence is  in everything I touch, feel, and see.   At the same time God does not have any direct involvement in the world.  The direct involvement comes when I do something, not when God does something.  So when I pray to end hunger and human suffering it is not God’s response that is needed – it is mine.  My prayer, beliefs, and faith should inspire me to get off my dead butt and do something about all these hungry people. If our “human” response is to depend on God to answer the prayer with a puff of wind bringing manna down from the sky, it would be our devotion and faith that could bring about such a miracle.

I cannot accept that one group, sect, and following has God figured out.  We humans think to small, and want to put God in a box, house, or segregated area (as my big brother has said many times).  In doing this we can then call God out at our convenience and use him/her/it to justify our particular need at that time.  These needs justify most of the evil we see each day.

I think on our best day we are all like my best friend Sally’s dogs.  We really want to play fetch, but refuse to drop the ball so that it can be thrown again.  We grab it once and then will not let it go.

We can only hope that God has a sense of humor to go along with the all encompassing love.

What gets in my way of feeding the hungry?

A lot gets in my way – me most of the time.

“For I do not do the good I want, but I do evil I do not want.”  Romans 7:19

That’s Paul’s words and I can certainly relate.  Here are some of the things specific to me:

*  I have a problem with authority, had in the past, have in the present, and by all indications will have in the future.  My mom had it, then I enhanced it, so not a surprise my son has a serious case of disliking authority.  This is more important to me than my mission on any given day.

*  I do agree with  many laws (police) and rules (organizations) and what they intend to carry out, but  I don’t agree to  follow the “letter of the law”  in any way, at any time.  Doing something simply because you are supposed to is not a good enough reason for me, even if it helps out my mission.

*  I get lazy and simply let time slip away  from me in front of the TV and computer.

*  I really like to drink beer, particularly on Friday night.  Those who are hungry do not stay my         focus after a few beers.

* I often try to do unto others as I perceive they have done to me – in other words plot to get even.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea.  While I am dedicated to my mission I am not allowing the mission to take me over completely.  I think I can become a better person if I get past my personality issues that have a negative impact on my mission.  Even as I write these words the expression “hell no” creeps in my brain.  Letting go of things I have felt as long as I can remember is like letting go of a dear friend.  It is part of me going away.  I think this would be growth, and change at it’s best, something required to succeed in my mission.

Guess you could say I remain a work in progress.

How rich are you?

Go to www.globalrichlist.com

That is how rich you are in the world.  I am surprised and a little embarrassed by my high-ranking.  I guess with this ranking I have a better opportunity to help others huh?  Maybe that is why I am on a  mission to feed the hungry, and have so many resources to do it.  I need to get to work, it is obvious from the wealth indicator many are dependent on me to make a difference.

Compassion is the only answer

I have researched many numbers and statistics on hunger via the web.  It was my plan to sift through the numbers and give a quick look of the facts on this blog.  There are too many numbers and they tend to numb the senses and not inspire me to take action.

My  conclusion is that here in the states no matter where I go, I am in walking distance of someone whose food security is threatened.  The harsh reality is if you must pay for lights, rent, transportation, etc., before you go to the grocery store.  Being well fed and homeless is not something you see often.   If you have resources to supply 75% or less of your needs food availability becomes insecure. People can reach out and get food quicker and easier than the can get a car payment made for them. This statement is true of most/all “developed” countries.  In undeveloped countries those whose who have enough to eat are in the minority, only 30% actually get enough to eat.

Now why is this true when enough grain is produced worldwide to give 3,000 calories to every one of us?  Many undeveloped nations actually export wheat when over half of their population is starving to death – it happens.  The cold hard fact is society is dependent on “haves” and “have nots”.   If food is shared equally we would have to recognize all peoples as having a right to exist. This is not the case in the world.  So would I care about your hunger if I were to decide based on my religion/tribe/government that you are a heathen dog?  What if I would rather starve than eat food from the hand of another I despised?

So what things could help ease the pain of hunger?

Government food programs?  yes

Rich people giving huge sums of money? yes

Celebrity endorsements? yes

All these things and many more do help each and everyday, but in the end I do not believe these are the answers.

The answer is Compassion:  compassion defined as: |kəmˈpa sh ən|nounsympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others :the victims should be treated with compassion. See note at mercy .ORIGIN Middle English : via Old French from ecclesiastical Latincompassio(n-), from compati ‘suffer with.’XX

Will compassion save everyone from hunger?  No, but if I show compassion for all others I might very likely save myself.

Another day before the distribution at the Georgia Mountain Food Bank

Yesterday I again helped pull the order to go to the Georgia Mountain Food Bank.  We had 11 pallets of canned product and 11 pallets of refrigerated/frozen food.  Today I drove up to Flowery Branch with the truck to help Kay get set up for assembling food boxes for families.  She was able to get a donation of  boxes which made the entire process better.  I drove the fork lift to unload the truck and staged the material for packing, went over a few details with Kay, got a hug and left.  I had to get back to the “day job” of being a supervisor at the ACFB.  Of course my feeling of urgency to get back to Atlanta was over the top and not needed.  The guys had pretty much taken care of the day even though we were 2 crew members short.  Awesome bunch of guys to work with.

Kay is doing the distribution closer to the city and expects walk- ups to get food.  I was able to come up with some awesome IKEA bags for those people to carry their food home.  I would estimate the weight of the food being in the 60 pound range, which is a lot to carry.  We (Punkin and I) are not going up tomorrow to help with the distribution like we did last time.  I have to admit I feel a little guilty not being there, but Kay has an awesome group of volunteers who show up, work hard and enjoy the experience.  So I need to save my gas money for the times when the volunteers are not there and our help is vital to the success of the operation.  Shiloh Baptist is now doing their distribution on November 14th and I plan on being there.  In the meantime I want to beef up my blog with facts figures and insight from others on the subject of hunger.  Have a good weekend.

Hunger Ends Brochure

I created this Hunger Ends brochure when I first started my mission and felt overwhelmed by what I was supposed to do.  This brochure helped me understand to focus on the mission and not the tasks of personally seeing that each person had food to eat.  Click on “Hunger Ends” to view.

Not about the hungry today

I went to Shiloh Baptist Church this morning to help with the monthly food distribution and there was a sign on the door that it had been changed to next week. They picked up their order on Thursday this week and I talked to the Pastor. I guess something changed between Thursday and today. My plan had been to bring Burly (the little dude in my picture), but his sister has a fever and I was afraid he was next. Maybe next week. So am cleaning the garage, working on my Braves fan wall, and being thankful. One of the things I am thankful is my bike. I love my bike.
So here is the story on my bike:
I got this way cool job at the food bank. My dream job that allows me to follow my mission all day everyday, and to finally drop out of the fight for the almighty dollar. The job did require a number of cost saving measures around the house to make the math work (income versus expenses). One of those was the 38 mile commute from McDonough and Atlanta. Public transportation was the only option.  This means I only have to drive the truck 6 miles a day.  Or better ride my bike those 3 miles each way to the bus stop and save money, plus be super green.   The first time I tried that option my big red bike was stolen from the park and ride – a real bummer.  I finally got past the loss deciding whoever stole it sold it for money to buy food for their family.  I called my son Will to tell him – Will is awesome, 32 and not afraid to be free.  He knows a lot about music, and bikes.  He told me he would give me one of his bikes and set up for me.  Took a month or so, but he not only set it up for me, he brought it to me from Knoxville.  The bike is awesome, the tires are the best you can buy, all the other parts are vintage and the best of there time.  I love riding this bike.  Now everyday that it is not raining I ride my awesome bike to the bus stop, put my bike on the bus rack, and once in Atlanta ride my bike on to work.  In doing this I can get in a 10 mile ride as part of the commute.  I park my bike in the warehouse where I can see it.  I am not losing this bike to anyone.  If I had bought this bike I would love it, having my son build it for me – it doesn’t get any better than this.  That is how I feel every time I get on it and ride.

My First Food Recovery

Earlier in a blog I said I was recovering the food from an ING half marathon today. Turns out this is not an ING event, but is run and managed by the same people. So the food Recovery today was from the 13.1 Atlanta race by US Road Sport & Entertainment Group. The bottom line of today’s efforts – 2,590 lbs. of food and water went directly to a non profit group to be distributed today. Almost 2,000 lbs. of the total was water in gallon jugs and 8 oz. bottles. The rest was, Barbecue, buns, apples, bananas, bagels, mini muffins, and potato chips. Quite a haul I thought. The weather was perfect for a race so not only did all the runners show up, they hung around and ate. This accounted for a small amount of leftovers. Still I am proud of the efforts of the race volunteers to help me consolidate the food. The non profit agency for coming in a large van to hold everything, and the food bank for leaving me to handle this recovery. Special thanks to Peggy Rogers for setting this up with me and making this all become a reality. She has already committed to doing a food recovery for the ING Marathon/half Marathon which is in March and has 15,000 runners. This means five times the food to recover. I have already volunteered with the food coordinator to be part of her team in March.
Since the race people were so nice to let me recover the food I volunteered as a course marshal for the race. I made sure the people going to a church on the course got to park without running over any runners. A long rewarding day, and I got a t-shirt!