WOW! WOW! WOW!

Um, that’s kind of — almost — all I can say.

MC Reality Online readers dug deep, counted coin, wrote checks, and typed in credit card numbers to the tune of … $1,943 in collective donations to All Faiths Food Bank to help feed the hungry in our community.

Wow!

All Faiths told me this morning that the amount you all raised is equivalent to 3,083 meals. Put another way, that’s like feeding a family of a single Sarasota mother and her two small children three squares each and every day for an entire year. Or it’s like helping put a solid meal on the table for lunch and dinner for a senior citizen and his wife for two full years! Or feeding eight dinners a day to eight homeless individuals — for an entire year — who might otherwise go without a decent meal on any given day of the week.

Wow!

I’m a little bit humbled and a whole lot grateful. To you. To the folks who read my blog posting on November 26th — Wake Up, MC, There Really is a Santa Claus — and decided to be Santa Claus in their own right … on their own terms … by donating a little or a lot to help feed the hungry.

I donated too, and though my amount was fairly small, I know it matters to someone somewhere. Collectively, we — all of us — stood up to do something for someone, maybe multiple someones, we don’t even know. I think that’s pretty wonderful. I think that’s pretty inspiring. I think that rocks.

And I thank all of you. There are people with full bellies tonight because of the actions of people like you.

Now on to the business at hand. I did hold the drawing. You know the one — the one with those magnificent prizes of all things MC!? Books, readings, PR services. Um, yeah, right.

Well, just like the Oscars, the drawing was masterfully — and vigorously — overseen by felines-in-residence, Coco, Boomerang, and Einstein (yes, I admit to having not one, not two, but three cats in my humble abode — but at least they were all rescue cats and at least I’ve sworn on each of their nine lives to not add any more to the mix!). They made sure there was no hanky panky in the selection of winners and they were immune to possible corruption by catnip or promises of Pounce.

The winners were selected at random out of the big tin can that normally holds kitty chow, so I admit they did have a vested interest in the event … But all was done on the up and up, and now, the random drawing has concluded and the winners have been notified.

One winner was a frequent commentator on this site — known as Steve! He elected to receive copies of my book, Sideways in Sarasota, which thrills me no end to know that someone, somewhere might want my book! 😉 Thanks, Steve, for participating, contributing, and for your often very funny, and sometimes only slightly understandable, comments made on the blog. 😉

Another winner is remaining anonymous by choice … someone in the Sarasota community whom I had no idea was even reading my blog in the first place … but whose attention and participation I gratefully, and happily, accept!

So there you have it. The 2008 MC Reality Reader/All Faiths fundraiser drive is now complete.

Just know that — whether you contributed to All Faiths or not — I so sincerely appreciate all the folks who take the time to read this blog occasionally or frequently … and I’m impressed with the good work we can do as a group! And one final very sincere thanks to the reader who originally encouraged me to have the fundraising drive in the first place. It’s an example of how one person can plant a seed that truly does feed many. Thank you, Mister Man Who Shall Go Unnamed for encouraging — in fact, challenging — me to extend my reach beyond my known grasp and to provide a venue for others to do the same.

Sending very best wishes for a fabulous 2009 to all of you!

MC