
My donation box in our mailroom
I have the super-secret key to getting neighbors and colleagues to donate canned goods for the Virtual Food Drive….
Ask.
Yep, ask. Knock on their office doors, step into their cubicles, walk up to their front steps. I’ve been waiting on the delivery of my bins and boxes from the San Diego Food Bank for several days, and I finally decided that was silly. Why do I need an “official” bin to collect goods? I just grabbed an empty box from Fabulous Supporter SDPrint.com and stuck a sign on it (download your own sign here!). The first donations came a couple of days ago, and last night when I left the office, I stopped a couple of blocks from home and knocked on a few doors. Here’s a sample of the responses I got:
- Oh, I’d love to help. My wife isn’t home, and I’m scared to take food that she may be saving, so can you come back tomorrow? I’ll leave a bag on the porch.
- Oh, I just gave the other day, but I don’t want you to go away empty handed. Let me see what I have.
- Sure, thanks for doing this! Let me go check.
- All I have right now is two cans of soup and some coffee. Sorry I can’t help. (The smell of pot wafted through the door as I stood there, and I almost gave HIM food so he could manage the munchies when they hit.)
In about an hour, I received about 30 pounds of goods, plus I met some wonderful people. Not bad for a last-minute effort. And the custodian here at the building said he’s getting together a big box of goods to bring next week. “Great,” I said. “My goal for the building is 150 pounds.” “You’ll get that easily,” he said. “We all need to give. We have to do something!”
Please take a moment to pledge your own personal donation to the drive, and don’t be afraid to ask around. People really do love to help.