After yesterday’s blog posting, It’s About Love, a reader wrote to me and encouraged me to find some way to do my annual fundraising drive for All Faiths Food Bank despite the fact that I don’t have an in-print column.
The thought hadn’t occurred to me, really, and I’m really thankful (in the spirit of the season!) that this reader took the time to read my blog and then encourage me to look for an alternative way to do good for others. I think I thought I couldn’t help All Faiths this year — because I don’t have a print column and perhaps because I’ve got so many struggles of my own right now, that I truly thought I didn’t have the resources to help others.
Luckily, this reader woke me up! He encouraged me to not give up quite so easily as I had. And … he was willing to put his money where his mouth was – by offering up a sizeable donation to get things rolling. Beyond his generosity in offering to make a donation, his gentle kick in the butt is even more important to me — and it proves something I’ve been thinking about ever since Obama was elected.
Americans really do want to pull together. If we all – all of us Americans — just truly have each other’s backs: motivating each other, offering to help strangers, picking someone up when they’re down, giving food to hungry people, and inspiring people we don’t even know to be better than they think they can be on any given day – geez, I know this sounds corny, but is there anything this country couldn’t do? Is there anything we couldn’t accomplish as individual citizens and as collective communities?
If I only help others when I’ve got “enough” or when it’s “easy,” then, that’s not really giving, is it? This reader, even though he said nothing like that at all, made me see that maybe the most important time to give is when you think you have nothing of value to give in the first place.
In addition to not having a print column, one of the reasons I hadn’t pursued a drive was because I felt I had so little to donate in the first place. Without a monthly fee for the column to donate (as I’d done in years past), I knew the best I could donate was $25 or so. I also felt I didn’t have anything of value to offer readers in the drawing I usually offered.
Whatever. I’m casting off my lazy-butt thinking and organizing another All Faiths Food Bank drive! I hope you’ll join me in making a donation – whether $5 or $50 or whatever amount you like – simply go to the All Faiths website at http://www.allfaithsfoodbank.org/howtohelp.shtml.
You’ll be able to make a donation right there online with your credit card and it’s safe and secure (at least they say it is!) and if you don’t mind, just put the words MC Reality in the “Enter Special Instructions Here” box. Or, you can mail a check to
All Faiths Food Bank
717 Cattleman Road
Sarasota, Florida 34232
941-379-6333
Just be sure to put the words MC Reality on your check.
The reason I ask you to put MC Reality is so that at the end of the drive, I can ask All Faiths to tell me how much we’ve all raised together. The first year, it was $600; the second year, $6,000. This year — whether we raise $7, $700, or $7,000, every little bit will help feed a hungry man, woman, or child in our community. I know some of my readers are out of state – if you don’t want to donate to All Faiths locally, perhaps you’ll consider donating in your own community!
I’m going to do the fundraising drive through the 18th of December (so any online payments must be made by then and any snail mail checks must be received by them by that date as well). Then, on the 19th, I’ll get the numbers from All Faiths; I’ll hold a drawing, and write up a posting so anyone interested can find out the results!
Speaking of the drawing — every year I always held a random drawing and gave something to two readers who donated to the drive. In past years, I was able to do something through the Pelican Press – free advertising or a gift certificate to a restaurant, etc., but since I no longer have that option, I’ll have to offer what I can – which is me!
So, if you make a donation and wish to be entered into the drawing, just send me an email – by the 18th, don’t forget! — to mcrealityonline@yahoo.com (or post a blog comment if you prefer); giving me your name and phone # and say “I donated; please enter me in the drawings!” or something to that effect (but please DON’T tell me how much you donated!) and then I’ll make up little slips of paper and have a trusted friend pull two names at random. (Only one chance at the drawing per donor.)
It’s the honor system, so please don’t enter the drawing if you didn’t make a donation; for my part, trust me, there will be no favoritism shown toward readers whose names I might recognize. I’ll just put everyone’s names down on equal sized papers and then my friend will draw two names at random. I know it’s a little bit amateur-hour compared to previous years (when the drawings were held by the editors at the Pelican Press), but … what can I say? Until the New York Times or St. Petersburg Times comes a-callin’, this is the best I can offer!
Winners will be able to choose from ONE of the following FABULOUS “prizes”:
• I’d come and speak to your organization, association or group (as long as it’s in a public space and/or I can bring my own Secret Service detail 😉 and I reserve the right to reject any group or place that I think might be unsafe). I could do a reading from my book or talk about writing, politics, or a million other subjects. I can be funny – contrary to what you’ve heard!
• I’d mail you up to five free copies of my book, Sideways in Sarasota, anywhere in the United States.
• I’d do a write-up about you or your business or a cause you are especially passionate about (but I reserve the right to reject some topics and reserve all editorial content and rights to my own discretion – but I promise to make it good!) and post it on my blog and if appropriate (deemed so by me only!), I’d even submit it to local media if it makes a good community story or message. I can only guarantee posting on my site, however, since most editors ignore me! 😉
• I’d do a press release for an event you have and distribute it to local media and try hard to get you some good coverage.
• I’d post an advertisement about your business or organization or book or artwork, or your favorite charity or volunteer group – whatever — on my blog once every two weeks for three months. I average nearly 100 unique readers per day, so there’d hopefully be some payoff for you in terms of publicity.
• I’d vote Republican in the next election if you want me to!*
Feel free to forward this blog link to anyone you know who might be interested in the fundraising drive and the drawings … the more the merrier!
Okay, so in closing to this massively long blog posting – I want to send a shout out to the man who wrote to me and got me off my rear-end:
You made my Thanksgiving; you might have even made my year. You reminded me of what true generosity is and what it requires of us collectively and individually. If you ever want to meet up and let me buy you a coffee or drink in person – it would be my pleasure.
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*Surely, you know I’m joking about this one!