Trouble in Paradise
TarponMonoxide
member
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
My rant: Our community food bank is CLOSED????
At 2pm on Thanksgiving Eve, when people need their services more than any other time of year??
I have a free turkey I wanted to donate.
I pulled up in front of the bank; it's closed.
Big sign on door: "ANy food donations must be cleared with the Town Social Services department" and it gives the number to call.
I called the number.,
"The mailbox is full...."
And Iwent down there...guess what; social services is closed, too. At 2pm on a Wednesday.
What a shame -- a family is going to lose out on a turkey --- I guess now I can keep it.:(
My opinion is that both the bank and social services should be open today until at least 7pm! Maybe somebody just lost their job and now they need food -- maybe somebody recently ran out of unemployment and now there is no money to buy food.
Whoever it is who runs things should be flayed at noon. Man.
I have a free turkey I wanted to donate.
I pulled up in front of the bank; it's closed.
Big sign on door: "ANy food donations must be cleared with the Town Social Services department" and it gives the number to call.
I called the number.,
"The mailbox is full...."
And Iwent down there...guess what; social services is closed, too. At 2pm on a Wednesday.
What a shame -- a family is going to lose out on a turkey --- I guess now I can keep it.:(
My opinion is that both the bank and social services should be open today until at least 7pm! Maybe somebody just lost their job and now they need food -- maybe somebody recently ran out of unemployment and now there is no money to buy food.
Whoever it is who runs things should be flayed at noon. Man.
Re: My rant: Our community food bank is CLOSED????
Senior citizens in this town is closed. And the local churches don't take food donations.
How very sad -- and all of this after they begged and pleaded for donations.
While it's really sad, I don't necessarily fault the food bank or social services. This is part of what happens when city budgets are slashed. Food banks usually rely on volunteers and a small handful of paid workers. On a Wednesday afternoon, the volunteers are most likely working, and the paid workers may not be able to be paid. I know the social services department in my area is struggling to stay open at all.
Or, it could just be really mis-managed.
The food bank is run by the town. This is unionized. This means they work 6 hour days -- so they're gone by 3 pm the latest. Yes, they are paid for lunch.
But wow, on a good faith effort, for love of all holy, can't you even get a volunteer in there to man the bank?
What about the Salvation Army? I know ours is hosting a community dinner tomorrow and has an emergency food pantry which is separate from the local food pantry network.
ETA: Ours is only open from 10-2 on Tuesdays and Thursdays because they run on volunteers. It really is a problem considering a lot of people do have jobs. The majority of people we see have jobs, but make slightly too much to qualify for food stamps or are senior citizens. The people without any income usually get enough in food stamps to make it through the month.
And
to Sue_Sue, too. I'm sorry you couldn't provide a turkey for a family's Thanksgiving, but they'll need to eat just as much next week. Of course it is nice to help people out on holidays, but it's just as nice on other days, too. 
WTF? That's so messed up.
Our local shelter, & battered women's shelter is a 24 hour donation center. H & I brought over a turkey & fixings earlier today for tomorrow.
ETA: I know that budgets are being slashed, but I can see the frustration when you are trying to help with something perishable (like a frozen turkey).
Ditto this! Everyone remembers the food bank and the shelters for Thanksgiving, but they do need food all year long.
We were going to do a service project with girl scouts and make bread or pies. They told us while they would welcome our donation of any kind, they have a greater need after Christmas, b/c people "forget," but the need is still there, so we didn't have to rush to do the project by Thanksgiving.
This is a great idea.
When I worked at Peet's we had to throw out all the pastry at the end of the night if it didn't sell. A couple of managers used to box it up and take it over to the shelters after close (we closed early, like 9pm) . The stuff was not even close to spoiling but since we had very strict rules about what pastry could stay in the store overnight we felt horrible about putting all of that bread etc. into a dumpster when it was still very edible. It would still get marked out etc., but I loved making those runs with the Pumpkin Bread and Ginger Bread during the holidays.
The food is not that nutritious (basically junk) but we loved to see people dig into it as treat. That Ginger bread was dangerous and delicious.
That is an excellent idea. thanks.
Where did they go? That entire office is closed at that hour? Ordinarily they are there until 4 pm. And nobody can give up a few more hours to man the phones on a day like today? Very sad indeed.
I truly can't understand why you're so mad and yet... YOU weren't there volunteering, either. Whose job is it exactly, then? Some union goon? Do I have that right?
The food bank is manned by the workers who are part of the social service department.
I feel like they left the people in need high and dry. 2 pm and there's nobody there? This is a weekday, to boot.
BY rights, the hours of operations should be on the door. I just wish that there was somebody there today and staying late to help somebody who may need their help last minute.
Maybe somebody's just lost a job and they're not yet part of unemployment benefits. And we still have many residents who are still trying to recover from the storms we had in the summer., yeah, even now, 3 months later.
The's nothing wrong w/ you wanting to donate...
but I'll confess to being bit miffed by 'how dare these employees have a day off/take a persona day/vacation day/travel to be wth families when they should be here catering to my desire to give right nooooow' attitude prevails throughout.
Just put the turkey in your freezer and bring it in tomorrow. People will still be hungry then, as mentioned.
It's kind of like the people who insist on volunteering at their local soup kitchen on Thanksgiving Day and then get pissed off when they're turned away because they have volunteers coming out of their asses... for that one day of the year. God forbid they volunteer to work at the soup kitchen on, say, February 9th. No, it simply has to be Thanksgiving Day, otherwise it won't be meaningful!
That rates up there with the Christmas/Easter pew warming visits people do.
Food banks/soup kitchens and the like are open year-round, not just on major holidays.
I loved the Girl Scouts community project idea - they learn/polish some cooking skills, and everyone in the community can benefit from it.
Here is a suggestion - how about some of those volunteers visit a nursing home on Thanksgiving or Christmas? There are tons of elderly people who never get a visit from family members any time of year, but you know it has to hurt them most during the holidays.