Carolina Huddle Sack Lunch Drive (an opportunity to do some good)

[rayzor]

Thanks ItsNotGonnaBeAlright for the name.

 

This is by no means official and doesn't have the Zod stamp of approval (at least not yet), but inspired by some of the discussion in the Krakan's coat drive i thought this might be a pretty cool idea that my family will be doing anyway.

 

My first thought was to have this be something that we do if/when we get into the playoffs, but then i thought why wait and/or be limited by the playoffs?

 

The concept is essentially this...for every sack on the opposing team you buy a sack of groceries for a family that needs food (and there are many more than you would expect in your area. the amount would probably shock you).

 

How would you do this? Well there are several ways.

 

First, there are local grocery stores who have programs where you can buy a prepackaged bag of groceries and have it sent to the local food bank or distributed to a local family in need. You might even get to have your name put on some little piece of paper and taped to a wall or something showing that you're a swell person.

 

Second, donate money to your local food bank. Don't know where that is? It's easy to find out: http://feedingamerica.org/foodbank-results.aspx all you have to do is put in your zip code and find who your local food bank partner with Feeding America is. From there you can donate either food that you can drop off or i think that they might be able to pick up (you'll have to check with them) or just donate money and they will buy it by the pound. Just as an example, here's my local one: http://www.hungernwnc.org/index.html They don't accept paypal (at least not yet) but donating with a credit card was pretty quick (I did a preemptive one just a little while ago to see what you had to do).

 

Third, you can give straight to the Feeding America general fund which is "a collaborative and coordinated network of more than 200 food banks united nationally and operating locally, serving every community in the nation to get food to those who need it." Why would you want to do this one? Well, more bang for the buck. In addition to being easy to donate b/c you can use paypal, they have matching programs going on where every dollar you give is doubled for the holidays. According to them, every dollar you donate would normally help provide 9 meals (I suppose because of their buying power), but through their matching program, each dollar would provide 18 meals. You can do it here: https://secure.feedingamerica.org/site/Donation2?df_id=17221&17221.donation=form1&s_onsite_promo=W13C21XHP&s_src=W13CREFER&s_subsrc=Feeding%20America&_ga=1.253095308.460637849.1386536661

 

So how much should you give? I would suggest either $5 or $10 per sack, but it's entirely up to you. I know that some of you have a whole lot more available to you financially so you might be able to afford to give more than that, and I would encourage you to do it (just don't brag about it). For others, you may be struggling financially right now. To you, just give what you can...whether it's $1 per sack or $5. Again, don't feel like you need to post how much you give. It's no one else's business.

 

Do you need to use one of the options I presented to you? Nope. Find what works best for you. If you are part of a community group who feeds the hungry, give to them. If you are a member of a church who has an active pantry that gives to poor families in your area, then give to it. Do whatever you feel would help others, just make sure you do something.

 

We have at any given moment hundreds of people in the huddle. Just think how much good could be done in communities in the Carolina's or in other areas who have Panther supporters if those hundreds of members give $5-10 per sack to help feed the hungry.

 

Whether you jump in on this or not, find some way to give to others. Give of your money or give of your time. Do something to make someone else's life a bit better.

 

So....you in?

 

 

ps....don't screw up this thread. I promise you if you turn this thread into a pissing match or try to derail it or otherwise screw it up i will abuse my mod powers. you have been warned.

 

thanks

[rayzor]

btw...i may be developing this idea further in the next week or so if it does a little bit of good. this was just a thought i had pop in my head that i probably could organize better.

[ItsNotGonnaBeAlright]

Was looking into some online fundraising platforms, but can't find one that allows a "per sack" pledge. Just flat one-time donations.

Here's my pledge here though: three cans of food per sack, one can per tackle-for-loss/interception/forced fumble/fumble recovery/, five cans per safety/defensive touchdown between now and end of the season (playoffs included), all donated to a local food bank.

[ladypanther]

I'm in.  Good idea.  Well done.  :)

[rayzor]

Was looking into some online fundraising platforms, but can't find one that allows a "per sack" pledge. Just flat one-time donations.

Here's my pledge here though: three cans of food per sack, one can per tackle-for-loss/interception/forced fumble/fumble recovery/, five cans per safety/defensive touchdown between now and end of the season (playoffs included), all donated to a local food bank.

awesome.

 

yeah,  i don't care how you pull it off as long as you do something. at some point in the near future i may try to organize it a bit more, but i like people being presented with a challenge lije this and figuring on their own how to do it. get people out of their boxes and try to get them to find ways to, in the words of bill and ted, "be excellent to each other".

[ItsNotGonnaBeAlright]

Set a goal donation based on performance of the defense from here on....basic idea?

[ThPantherFan]

btw...i may be developing this idea further in the next week or so if it does a little bit of good. this was just a thought i had pop in my head that i probably could organize better.

 

 

Count me in too.  There's a lot of kids, here in the mountains, that don't get the proper nourishment.  My family will get a name from our church or local fire department and we'll go drop it on the door step.

[rayzor]

Count me in too.  There's a lot of kids, here in the mountains, that don't get the proper nourishment.  My family will get a name from our church or local fire department and we'll go drop it on the door step.

those are good ideas. fire dept is a really good resource for this kind of thing. i was kind of surprised recently at the list of families in the area that needed help with toys. our church worked with a biker group to get toys to a lot of these families a couple weeks ago.

one thing my wife and i do on occassion is go to this local motel that people go to when they've got nowhere else to go and find out from the manager if there's a family or individual there who looks like they're in desperate times and either drop off food at their door or just knock on the door and meet them and see if there's anything else that they need and i will see if i know where they can get further help.

 

it's not hard to find families or individuals who are in need.

[ItsNotGonnaBeAlright]

There's a ton of community food pantries up in the Mountains. Worked with a few over the years, all could use the help. Might be something to look into.

[ThPantherFan]

I love to just drop it off and they don't know where it came from.  I had a niece that was in need.  Husband had walked out on her and 2 kids.  I put a weeks worth of groceries on the porch and she was telling everyone that she couldn't believe what had happened.  To this day she doesn't know where it came from.  She has since gotten squared away and those kids have grown into fine young men.  I'm proud of her accomplishments.  Anyway, enough of that.  I hope everyone that can, will do something for those that can't. 

 

When it comes to feeding kids don't be ashamed to let the local fire department, church, etc. know what you need.  There's plenty of people that will help and enjoy doing it.  Those true people that help doesn't ask for a thing in return.  If I needed help, I wouldn't hesitate.