Rolls are so a Good Reason to be Thankful
We are incredibly fortunate in our little family, and we know it. We are blessed with good jobs, good health, a good house, and all around good lives. We try to be thankful for all that we have all year round so that when Thanksgiving rolls around? We can totally focus on what is most important about the holiday--the food.
Admit it, you love Thanksgiving for the food, too. I fully confess that I insist on the six-hour drive to Indianapolis simply because the food here? ROCKS. Dessert. Lots of dessert. Mashed potatoes. Veggie bean dip. And the rolls that are a specialty on one side of the family? *drools*
I can't even think straight after having a mental moment with one of those rolls and a little butter.
Since I am admittedly focused on the good stuff when it comes to Thanksgiving, we do our best to spread the love and donate a good chunk of groceries to a food bank this time of year. I try to remember to do it at least quarterly, but my brain has been destroyed by a short person, so the past few years I have only remembered in November. This year Alexis' daycare center was holding a food drive, so I sent her with a booty load of good stuff, some bought especially to donate and some pulled from our cabinets because I knew for a fact it had been in there at least six months.
It was really sad to see that the booty load I hauled in was more than they had already gathered TOTAL. I'm not saying that I dug up hundreds of dollars worth of food. In fact, it was more like $20. There just wasn't enough participation going on, all things considered. I'm willing to assume that people were giving in other ways, but then there's the usual news stories about food banks not having enough food to go around.
The suck.
So, maybe y'all have had your brains eaten by a kid lately as well and have forgotten. Maybe you could take a minute to drop a few cans of something or other off at a food drive somewhere? Or maybe you aren't in a place to be able to give right now. Maybe you could go head over here and do some clicking around (ad revenues go to Food for the Poor)? Or maybe you are all for giving, but don't want to be bothered with leaving the comfort of your butt groove on the couch. How about heading here and filling up that virtual red kettle?
Thanks, yo.
And now that I've had my fill of hot rolls for a little while, I suppose I can be thankful for some of my fave peeps. And Mr. Canon. I am most certainly thankful for Mr. Canon.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Reader Comments (15)
you rock more than i do. ;-)
Amen! We donate at holiday time but should do it quarterly, too.
Great shots of the family's youngins!
My son's preschool collected for a Baby Needs Pantry - and the director said that when she unloaded her PACKED minivan that we had donated more than what they already had in stock.
Also - amazing pictures. I love the one of the high school kid - great shot!
Oh you missed a great opportunity to donate. Big Burrito's annual fundraiser supported the food bank this year. So 100% of food revenue for one day were donated to the Greater Pittsburgh Food bank. I took my kids to Casbah and said "Order anything and everything you want." It was AWESOME. We ended up eating a TON of good food and donated a lot of money to the food bank!
We donated a turkey this year to the church drive and are going to spend less money on our family this year and take that money instead and adopt a family and make a donation to our local Down syndrome guild. We have so much stuff (toys) that the kids really don't need anymore. So, they'll get one Santa gift and then clothes because they need clothes.
As for the rolls, you can keep them. Give me the mashed potatos!
that's so sad. Our preschool's ginormous donation box was overflowing thankfully!
I had to laugh when Big D told me he was perusing the angel tree at work and saw one for a 17 year old young"man" asking for things like an X-Box and all sorts of high dollar items. ...not that he didn't deserve a gift but come on! I liked the one that said the 9 year old needed a winter coat then listed toys that didn't break the bank. Am I totally judgmental?
Anyway, what a great post!
Thanks for the reminder. I, too, heard the story on the radio the other day how people who used to donate to food banks now are coming there to get food, and I meant to donate that day. I blame baby brain for not having done it yet and will make up for it tomorrow.
Cool. Last year, for his birthday, The Boy took food donations in leiu of gifts and we donated it all to a local food bank. We were so proud of him.
I was just thinking that I should get some things together to donate. Our local food pantry also gives clothes away and I have a bunch of stuff to drop off. I like that better than Salvation Army I think.
I think you're right, people just get caught up in their own lives and forget. Thanks for the reminder to GIVE.
And Mr. Canon took some great shots there. ; ) That brown-eyed beauty in the first one - WOAH! And the third one is quite lovley. What a special time with family!
Totally a cool post! Every year we fill up the ol' specially marked paper bag and drop it off at the pick-up spot for the local shelter. It's so easy to forget that there are people that rely solely on the food banks or shelters to survive. No matter what our economy looks like, Americans are blessed more than they realize. Thanks for the great reminder!! :)
I agree - rolls count BIG TIME on my gratitude list. LOL!
Regarding food donations, I don't know about other places, but most grocery stores here in Texas put together shopping bags full of stuff that food banks need. You can just snag one off of a shelf by the checkout stand and pay for it with the rest of your groceries. Then there's a red barrel by the exit where you just drop in the bag. It sure makes giving easy and relatively painless. Since you are already writing a check, another $8 to $10 tacked on doesn't hurt a thing.
Thanks for being a good mom and teaching your daughter the value of giving. I wish more parents would.
We pimped out the kids this year (okay, the Brownie troop volunteered) to gather collections for the food bank. I was shocked by how many people -- and we're talking well-heeled, perfectly manicured and coiffed Fox Chapelites here -- flat out refused to donate so much as a 49-cent can of corn.
We're collecting cans at school right now. The food banks have really had a hard time lately. :( Mr. Cannon did an awesome job, by the way.
I was really hoping to see some pics of a wet Cody and a wet Mr. Husband.
I haven't donated any food this year. In fact, there has been no mention of a food drive at school like there usually is. Sign of the times?
I do, however, have one of those big, black garbage bags FULL of toys that Alyssa either doesn't play with or has outgrown. In good condition too. Those are going to Goodwill and I hope that they will bring a smile to a child that might not otherwise have much Christmas.