donate

I have been training consecutively for 20 weeks in preparation for the ING New York City marathon.

My RunWell tracker reports that I have logged 491 miles.

I never would have donated as much food as I have to this date - 678 non-perishable food items - unless I were training for a marathon.

I decided to express my excitement for my upcoming race by making a significant donation of non-perishable goods. Below is a photo of a 15 lbs bag of rice, several industrial-sized cans of fruits and vegetables and Halloween candy that I dropped off at my local food pantry.

And I like round numbers.

So I'm going to top off my 'piling on the pounds' tally to 800.

8 days and counting to race day!

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Miles ran - 18 (yesterday)

I knew the minute I started laying out my grocery items on the conveyor belt that I would find myself explaining my strange purchase to the clerk.

Clerk: Wow…you must really like tuna fish and macaroni and cheese…(beep, beep, beep….as my items were run across the scanner)

Me: (I decide to go with the short version) It’s not all for me. I am training for the ING NYC marathon. Each mile I run I donate one non-perishable food item.

Clerk: Hey, that’s a great idea! This food is really nutritious. Next time you might want to add mushroom soup. I always mix tuna fish and maraconi and cheese with mushroom soup. You said you were running a marathon? (she gives me a scrunched face, followed by a shrug) Good luck.

Me: Thanks.

Ayup, today I purchased and promptly donated 56 non-perishable food items. It appears that I have now donated a tad over my current mileage. Needless to say I didn't write down the exact number of items I needed to donate and simply erred on the side of buying/donating too much.

Most of which was canned tuna fish, maraconi and cheese and a boat load of pasta. Each item is on the ‘most needed list.’

Remember when I wrote that during the month of September for each mile I ran I would double the number of non-perishable food items I would donate?

Turns out a generous family has pledged to do the same for the Greater Chicago Food Deposity. 

For each $1 a person donates, their gift will be matched.

Related Link: Helping the Hungry for 30 Years: A Public Awareness Campaign 

Check out this film created by Blame Society Productions called Chad Vader - Day Shift Manager #1.

Next time you are in the grocery store and in need of a laugh, just think of Chad...

Miles ran - 8

Did you know that September is Feeding America's Hunger Action Month?

It's going to be easier than ever to donate food to those in need all September long.

If you live in Chicago you can frequent your local Jewel-Osco and you'll be able to donate money at the cash register along with your regular purchases or use the in-store bins to deposit non-perishable food items.