Please Help the Valley View Food Bank if you can

Deleted.

 

It's my personal opinion that the Valley View Food Bank was doing o.k. until it opened it up to one and all. Wasn't it originally only for a selected area? I'm thinking Sun City & Youngtown.

 

Yes, originally the Food Bank was in a smaller building in Youngtown. They moved to the 107th & Peoria location which was very large and then further expanded to open the Thrift Store in an attempt to bring in funds. They at some point changed their service to anyone that walked in the door. I'm sure the rent for the two buildings isn't cheap and I imagine the landlord gets a break for renting to non-profits.

Location, location, location....With so many thrift shops across the street behind Walgreens it's hard to compete. Just up the road on 107th is the Olive Branch Senior Center that offers daily meals, home delivered meals and even a food bank. St Mary's Food bank out of Surprise gets most of the area's excess food and donations.

If the food bank is more than $20,000 in arrears for rent and utilities, I'm afraid it's time to move back to Youngtown in a smaller building. Jesse gave it a huge effort and should be praised for it.

 

I remember when it was in Youngtown. I took some food there.

 

Sadly E, I'm afraid it doesn't matter much. This thread sent me on a search for related topics and there's hundreds of stories out there on the struggles food banks are going through; and more than a fair share of those who have closed their doors. It was predictable, because food banks were never supposed to become the norm. They were intended for stop gap protections for those small percentages who were falling through the cracks.

I know we avoid politics here as much as possible, so let me be clear, this isn't a political statement or assessment. In my mind, both parties have failed us. The shift in the past forty years from an economy driven by good paying jobs with stable benefits has left huge numbers of folks trying to get by on too meager wages and virtually no employer funded retirement and pretty crappy health care (if they have it at all).

That's the ugly side of it; on the other side of the ledger we've seen the worlds wealth consolidated in the hands of a tiny percentage of those at the top. Sure they've paid those doing their bidding good wages and benefits, but the masses have been shuffled off to forge for themselves. Tragic. The 80's brought us all the buzz words; downsizing, right sizing and a host of other euphemisms that meant I'm going to get mine and you're going to get screwed while I do it

What's tragic is it still goes on today. The game of off-shore banking and corporate tax evasion is criminal, except our politicians have made it legal. And the real problem is it will never get fixed, never. With our new campaign finance laws, the highest bidder can buy whom he/she wants to guarantee their success. That too is criminal, but yet again we've legalized it so learn to live with it.

The social problems that come with bad jobs, bad wages and no benefits are exactly what is fueling the need for food banks. And as those needs grow, the quest to get people to contribute to try and solve the problems hits a brick wall as well. People can help only so long, they never expected it to become weekly endeavor to feed those who have little or nothing.

Now after 40 years of trying to put a bandage on a broken arm, people are less inclined to support a lost cause. Nope, not saying don't contribute, but someone somewhere has to come to understand in the long run it isn't a solution. Solutions fix problems, not just hold them off or at bay. This country is backsliding, and politicians have no answers, and I mean neither party.

In 1940, Woody Guthrie wrote This Land is Your Land. It's been sung by hundreds of performers, and each has brought his or her own approach to it. I love them all, and sadly it's become almost a cacophony of what's wrong with the country to date. Somewhere along the way we moved from we to me.

It's why I left working when I did, our course was set and nothing I saw was going to change it. Sucks, because I'm an optimist at heart.

Here's a rendition by Bruce Springsteen and his opening remarks are spot on and his version is dead on beautiful.

I hate to say it, but the crap going on outside the walls makes what goes on inside the walls so damned awesome. Our problems within them are manageable and we can take care of them ourselves. It's the best of all solutions given where we are.

Finally, here's one more take by one of my favorites, Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen. It was sung during the Obama inauguration and while I voted for him both times, I can's say he's done much to right the ship. Politics at it's best...or is it at its worst?

 

I agree with most of what you wrote, BP. I've grown so weary of big politics. It's to the point of apathy. I think they've got me where they want me. That said, I'm all for supporting causes on a local level. It truly is where you can see your dollars and efforts make an impact. That trumps all the noise in my mind.

 

I have a couple of boxes of items that I was going to give to the Salvation Army.
Then I read that the officers were taking items so will cross them off my list.

I have donated money & items to Valley View and will continue to do so.

Another thrift shop I like is Eve's Place because they give free clothing to women so that they can look for a job.

 

I just can't get my head around being $20,000 in arrears, no money in the bank and needing $30,000 on a monthly basis going forward to keep the Food Bank open. Unless there is grant funding immediately received I don't see how they can remain in service. Food donations are not going save them right now.

There is no mention of how much is owed in rent and utilities by the Thrift Store or what they need in their monthly expense budget.