We’re a week out from Thanksgiving. If you’re like us, you’re ready for 2016 to get to steppin. The recent electoral events have given us all a lot to think about – and even more importantly – decide where and how we are going to make this world better. For Radix Collective this means starting in our community.
The Los Angeles Regional Food Bank is the main artery for our county, overseeing the collection and distribution of donated food and other grocery products to charitable agencies that serve low-income and needy people. They currently serve 280,500 people a month with hunger impacting 1 in 6 people, which works out to an estimated 1.4 million people who live with food insecurity. This is tragic.
Thanksgiving should be a time to enjoy with family and friends but for many in our midst they don’t have the luxury of shopping for turkey, or buying fancy sides or fancy butter or wine. For those the Food Bank helps, they are dependent on donations to feed their families on this day. The Food Bank assembles special Thanksgiving dinner bags and hands out thousands through partners all across LA county.
Make a difference and donate key food items: In talking with the Food Bank (and having volunteered in the past) there is a lot of crappy junky food donated. This is not nutrition. They always have a shortage of fresh fruits and vegetables and I’m not talking about canned, though they appreciate those too, Turkeys and meats (like packaged chicken) are in very short supply at Thanksgiving (throw an extra one in your cart!), and children are often overlooked with a huge defecit of baby foods and formulas.
Spend your morning or the full day volunteering: Want to really count your blessings? Spend time serving others who have very little. We need more kindness and compassion in the world – especially right now. There are a number of Food Bank partners who may need volunteers (see chart) or check out community feeding events, such as Westside Thanksgiving, a massive community run event. If you want to find a food pantry near you, the LA Food Bank has this nifty tool.
Here is a list of Thanksgiving Food Bank partners in case you want to give them a call <nudge, nudge>.
Small acts of kindness have big impacts. Make a day of it with your kids. Take them shopping and let them pick out items. Bring them (or your partner, or your friends) to volunteer or drop things off. Get outside yourself for a minute and get in touch with a real “Thanksgiving” Spirit.
