Patron Saints and Breakfast Cereal – January 5, 2019 - Third Story of the Food Bank Trilogy
Patron Saints and Breakfast Cereal – Third Story of the Food Bank Trilogy
If I was a Catholic, St. Anthony and I would be on a first-name basis. St. Anthony is the Patron Saint of Lost Things. And I lose things. So I was not surprised in the least when Walmart lost the 300 boxes of kraft-like dinner that I had ordered on-line, and that were supposed to have arrived on Monday, December 24. We were out hiking during the day and I had put a gigantic sign on the railing, encouraging the driver to leave the boxes on our deck, and wishing him Happy Holidays.
Why were 300 boxes of Great Value Mac n Cheese supposed to arrive at our trailer? Well, I am the “point-person” for the local food bank at our seniors’ RV park. And a very generous anonymous donor from Canada – who I truly do not know – sent a cheque for $100, expressly for this purpose. Mac n cheese was the most needed item in the month of December.
I was aching for the mac n cheese to arrive. We had already $100 dollars worth of canned tomatoes and $50 dollars worth of Ramen noodles – all donated - nicely filling the trunk and half the back seat of our 21 year old car. I had the other half saved for this shipment – our hiking equipment having been displaced to the deck. And I had foodbank volunteers lined up on Thursday, December 27, to help us unload this much needed bounty.
Que faire? I discovered a phone message on our occasionally-working cell phone (a story in itself) when we got back from our Monday hike. It was the parcel delivery service. They had tried to deliver something from Walmart – but didn’t have our unit number. What?! They could have simply asked for me at the “greeters gate” (aka the guard shack) at the entrance to the trailer park. But hey, it was Christmas Eve and all – time to be generous with everyone. The delivery service was closed by the time I called them back.
Tuesday, Christmas day, I tried to call again – but the office was closed. Pas de surprise. Wednesday, I called them first thing in the morning and gave the delivery service my mailing address, and they said they would try to get it out that day.
Thursday morning, still no mac n cheese, but I got an email from Walmart saying the items had been delivered. I emailed them back to let them know that I had NOT received them. They then let me know that the items had been declared “lost” and they would refund me.
I was a little disappointed…until we got a knock on our trailer door that same Thursday morning. A lad from lot #43 (where we used to live) said he had two huge boxes from Walmart left at his door. They were now in his truck – Laur and I helped unload them into our car, filling the last inch of back seat space.
I confess, I did not want to contact Walmart and let them know that the lost mac n cheese had been found. There were going to reimburse me and I could use that money to buy 300 more boxes. But that would be hugely dishonest – our bounty would be “booty” – so I wrote them to tell them the food had arrived, but I’d be happy to receive it as a donation to the food bank and would order another 300 packs of mac n cheese… 😊 😊 😊
No such luck. They billed me.
I was a little saddened…but not for long. New Years Eve, the magnificent M donated $30 to the food bank, and today (January 2) the ever-cheery C brought over a bunch of boxes of Cheerios. Laur and I went shopping this afternoon for the best-priced cheerio-like cereal we could find. No surprise, it was Great Value Toasted Os – plain and honey. We (again) cleared out all their stock and I still have money left over for two more boxes. I had promised to donors that my hubs Laur would build something if we got a $25 donation for breakfast cereal. He stacked them like dominoes in an S-shape (for Sahuarita?) and took a video of me tapping the first box and all 26 boxes being knocked over. An intentional Wreck It Ralph for once.
My initial goal for Green Valley RV Resort for breakfast cereal for the Sahuarita Food Bank in January was 50 boxes. We are now at 54 and we have 29 more days to go. Oh, what the heck. Let’s make the goal 100!
Perhaps I should get to know the patron saint of foodbanks. I looked him up – it’s St. Lawrence. Ha ha!! Actually, he’s the patron saint of cooks – but not for the reason you’d think. Here is his story….
‘Owner of one of the grislier tales to come out of the Catholic canon, St. Lawrence is the patron saint of cooks because of the manner in which he died: having been told by the Roman authorities to turn over the Church's great riches, he assembled the halt and the lame, the blind and the decrepit in a room and told the quaestor that this was the great riches of the Church. He was handed over to be put to death. The quaestor was so angry that he ordered Lawrence barbecued on a huge grate over charcoal. Lawrence, who had absolutely nothing left to lose, endured for a time and then called out, “I am well-done; turn me over.”’
This is not too far off from how my hubs feels some days… 😊
If I was a Catholic, St. Anthony and I would be on a first-name basis. St. Anthony is the Patron Saint of Lost Things. And I lose things. So I was not surprised in the least when Walmart lost the 300 boxes of kraft-like dinner that I had ordered on-line, and that were supposed to have arrived on Monday, December 24. We were out hiking during the day and I had put a gigantic sign on the railing, encouraging the driver to leave the boxes on our deck, and wishing him Happy Holidays.
Why were 300 boxes of Great Value Mac n Cheese supposed to arrive at our trailer? Well, I am the “point-person” for the local food bank at our seniors’ RV park. And a very generous anonymous donor from Canada – who I truly do not know – sent a cheque for $100, expressly for this purpose. Mac n cheese was the most needed item in the month of December.
I was aching for the mac n cheese to arrive. We had already $100 dollars worth of canned tomatoes and $50 dollars worth of Ramen noodles – all donated - nicely filling the trunk and half the back seat of our 21 year old car. I had the other half saved for this shipment – our hiking equipment having been displaced to the deck. And I had foodbank volunteers lined up on Thursday, December 27, to help us unload this much needed bounty.
Que faire? I discovered a phone message on our occasionally-working cell phone (a story in itself) when we got back from our Monday hike. It was the parcel delivery service. They had tried to deliver something from Walmart – but didn’t have our unit number. What?! They could have simply asked for me at the “greeters gate” (aka the guard shack) at the entrance to the trailer park. But hey, it was Christmas Eve and all – time to be generous with everyone. The delivery service was closed by the time I called them back.
Tuesday, Christmas day, I tried to call again – but the office was closed. Pas de surprise. Wednesday, I called them first thing in the morning and gave the delivery service my mailing address, and they said they would try to get it out that day.
Thursday morning, still no mac n cheese, but I got an email from Walmart saying the items had been delivered. I emailed them back to let them know that I had NOT received them. They then let me know that the items had been declared “lost” and they would refund me.
I was a little disappointed…until we got a knock on our trailer door that same Thursday morning. A lad from lot #43 (where we used to live) said he had two huge boxes from Walmart left at his door. They were now in his truck – Laur and I helped unload them into our car, filling the last inch of back seat space.
I confess, I did not want to contact Walmart and let them know that the lost mac n cheese had been found. There were going to reimburse me and I could use that money to buy 300 more boxes. But that would be hugely dishonest – our bounty would be “booty” – so I wrote them to tell them the food had arrived, but I’d be happy to receive it as a donation to the food bank and would order another 300 packs of mac n cheese… 😊 😊 😊
No such luck. They billed me.
I was a little saddened…but not for long. New Years Eve, the magnificent M donated $30 to the food bank, and today (January 2) the ever-cheery C brought over a bunch of boxes of Cheerios. Laur and I went shopping this afternoon for the best-priced cheerio-like cereal we could find. No surprise, it was Great Value Toasted Os – plain and honey. We (again) cleared out all their stock and I still have money left over for two more boxes. I had promised to donors that my hubs Laur would build something if we got a $25 donation for breakfast cereal. He stacked them like dominoes in an S-shape (for Sahuarita?) and took a video of me tapping the first box and all 26 boxes being knocked over. An intentional Wreck It Ralph for once.
My initial goal for Green Valley RV Resort for breakfast cereal for the Sahuarita Food Bank in January was 50 boxes. We are now at 54 and we have 29 more days to go. Oh, what the heck. Let’s make the goal 100!
Perhaps I should get to know the patron saint of foodbanks. I looked him up – it’s St. Lawrence. Ha ha!! Actually, he’s the patron saint of cooks – but not for the reason you’d think. Here is his story….
‘Owner of one of the grislier tales to come out of the Catholic canon, St. Lawrence is the patron saint of cooks because of the manner in which he died: having been told by the Roman authorities to turn over the Church's great riches, he assembled the halt and the lame, the blind and the decrepit in a room and told the quaestor that this was the great riches of the Church. He was handed over to be put to death. The quaestor was so angry that he ordered Lawrence barbecued on a huge grate over charcoal. Lawrence, who had absolutely nothing left to lose, endured for a time and then called out, “I am well-done; turn me over.”’
This is not too far off from how my hubs feels some days… 😊