Food drives cause domino affect
Posted on Wednesday, October 15, 2008
BY LYNN ATKINS Staff Writer lynna @ nwanews. com Although they didn’t plan on starting a grassroots movement to feed the hungry, Gabe and Michelle Rodriguez are pretty sure it’s what they were meant to do. Now there’s no telling where it might lead them. It all started in July, when the couple — enjoying the Sunday paper in their Rogers home — read a story that bothered Michelle. “ It really touched me, ” she said of reading about women who ate at the Samaritan Center soup kitchen so that they could save the food they have in their home for their children. As the mother of a 3-year-old, she knew how they felt.
According to the July story, Samaritan Center was seeing an increase in food bank clients and was having trouble meeting the demand. Both Gabe and Michelle knew there was something they could do to help.
“ We planned it as a one-time thing, ” Gabe said, “ then it got out of hand. ”
The one-time thing was a food drive in their neighborhood. They contacted the Property Owners Association and got permission, then they designed a flyer and distributed it to their neighbors. Friends suggested they include two other nearby subdivisions.
On Aug. 23, the Rodriguez family, with the help of a few friends, collected 1, 600 pounds of food from families living in Montreaux, Berry Farm and Bent Tree subdivisions.
“ We didn’t know what to expect, ” Gabe said. He was amazed at the generosity of his neighbors. People from all three neighborhoods called with offers to help.
“ I thought I was going to help other people, but the volunteers got more out of it than the people we helped, ” Gabe said. His son even got a new playmate from a house on the other side of the subdivision. A story appeared in the newspaper about the food drive, and soon Michelle was fielding
calls from other neighborhoods. People wanted to know how to organize their own food drives.
Meanwhile, the couple’s friends, Mike and Corrie Rusch, were setting up a Web site to share ideas about correcting social problems. The “ Good Neighbor Food Drive” was a perfect fit for the initiative page on www. cobblestoneproject. org.
“ What we’re finding out is one leader in each subdivision steps forward and they want to own this process, ” Gabe said. “ They feel pride in it. ”
“ We can offer as little or as much help as they want, ” Michelle added. So far, no one has had a problem getting volunteers to pick up the food. Usually two pickup trucks are all that’s needed. She sets up a time to meet at the Samaritan Center to drop off the food.
Arkansas Sign and Banner is helping with signs that can be placed at the front of participating subdivisions as a reminder.
The couple spend between 10 and 20 hours a week working on food drive projects, but Gabe would like to do even more. The next step, he said, is to involve local businesses. Next, he wants to approach local supermarkets and ask them to match the food that’s collected. Eventually, he wants to approach schools and colleges. Someday he wants to spread his idea nationwide and find the funding to allow him to travel and promote it.
“ This is more fun than my day job, ” Gabe said. He works as the finance director for the Wal-Mart Grocery Team.
One food drive won’t solve the problem of hunger in northwest Arkansas, but one food drive every weekend might, Rodriguez said. He wants to sign up 26 groups and have them each schedule bi-annual food drives.
“ It’s a domino effect, ” he said. “ Neighbors see the impact their service can make and they get excited and reach out to their friends.... You don’t have to be someone big and important in order to help. ”
For more information about Good Neighbor Food Drives, visit www. cobblestoneproject. org or e-mail food @ cobblestoneproject. org.
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