Week 82 - Rescued Critters Food Drive

Hi Folks,

“Are any of the folks u know in the neighborhood in need of food?”

That’s the question Lee, my friend and neighbor on 12^th Street asked me in an early Monday morning email. I had no response at first. Night owls aren’t too nimble in the morning sunlight.

Halfway through breakfast for me and my fur buddies, I conjured up an image from the day before of my friend Barbara on Miles Street doing yardwork. She’s a bartender at the Congress Hotel who was suddenly out of work. Then Ed came to mind.

When I created the idea of One Can A Week back in late 2008, he’s the first guy I asked about starting a food drive. Many of you may remember the story. He was a city housing inspector and he told me all about those empty food cabinets he encountered daily. That was all I needed to hear.

Ed is a father-figure for many single working-mothers and their kids in Miles. He helps Barbara and so many more families. He said he needed help from “the village” when he was a kid and now he’s just passing it on.      

Ed Altamirano and Kahlua – 2011

I answered Lee’s question in an email. “Yes, her name is Barbara and she is a bartender who lost her job. She lives on Miles. My friend Ed on Miles would know more about her situation. Also he may know more folks in the neighborhood. Tell me what you are thinking and I'll call Ed.”

Lee replied, “well just come get cash from me and get it to her.”

After my call with Ed, I picked up and delivered Lee’s envelope with a number of $20 bills inside. On the face were the words, “Ed’s Stash.” That made us laugh.

Ed then showed me his project idea book with 8 family names listed on the back page. He had already stated planning on how to manage the money for those folks under his wing.

There must be a following act

Right then I realized Ed will need more money so another idea showed up. When I get the two checks from the government in May (see, some optimism here) I will give half to Ed. And maybe more neighbors will help Ed out, too, or come up with their own list of families they know who will need help.

This problem won’t go away even when Barbara and others go back to work. It will take years to recover from this virus, mentally, physically and financially. I plan on sticking it out with my neighbors for the long haul. If you’d like to help Ed with cash donations, just give me a call or send an email.

And if you are going to do your own thing, I’d like to hear those stories, too.

PACC in Lockdown

The food delivery was make outside the locked gate Monday.

(See red arrow.) I was allowed in to donate the check but

dealt with a staffer outside on the sidewalk. A receipt will be

mailed to me.

The seriousness of our situation really hit home today. For me, it feels as perilous as the time I was in the Army at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma during Viet Nam and assigned to be a medic. Normally medics were trained in Texas for 12 weeks and then stationed in a hospital for 12 weeks. I was stationed in a hospital in an accelerated program.

The stories in the Army Times newspaper covered platoons or companies in battle which included the number of injured or killed. The stats were noteworthy. But always the last paragraph in the article would state the number of medics killed who were in another platoon or company not related to the focus of the story. For instance the number would be 44 or more.

I had to find another job. The only free time was Saturday afternoons so I put on my dress uniform and walked around the headquarters building. I discovered the Public Information Office and also discovered they had an opening for a reporter. The medical company released me because I told them I was a writer and wanted to be an officer. Fortunately, the Army was desperate for officers and I was just as desperate to save my life, so I lied my face off.

It’s different this time though. You can’t be clever, you can’t maneuver, you can’t move to a different planet. You just have to wash your hands, not touch your face, stay at home, and stay 6 feet or more away from folks when you cautiously shop for food. There’s one more thing. You have to be careful but you have to help those in need every chance you get. That makes this fight worth it.  

This week’s donation was 314.6 lbs. of pet food (see red arrow in PACC gate photo above) and $50.00 in one check. In addition, there was 1 small pet bowl, 1 dog harness and 1 pill bottle.

Be Safe and See you Sunday,

Peter