I was on my way into the supermarket to buy a newspaper this morning when I was approached by a man handing out printed pieces of paper about a food donation a local organization was conducting.

He asked that if I could give anything it would be appreciated, to which he handed me one of these pieces of paper. I looked over it briefly and said I would see what I could do and proceeded inside the supermarket, neatly folding the paper but not putting it into my pocket.

Once I had found a paper I proceeded to look over the leaflet he had handed me. I was going to buy a couple of cans of corn or something of the like and donate that but when I looked at the paper I was surprised at what was listed.

The Following are a List of Items We are in Desperate Need of:

Chicken (whole or parts)
Breakfast Meats (Bacon and sausage)
Hamburger Meat and Hot Dogs
Cereal
Potatoes (White or Sweet)
Powdered Drink Mix/Juice Boxes
Spaghetti Sauce
Snacks
Eggs
Paper Products (Cups, Plates, Napkins)

Now normally I wouldn’t give this a second thought, but some of this stuff really seemed out of place to me. Eggs, cereal, and Hot dogs make sense to me. Yet, Chicken whole or parts, Hamburger, Paper Products?

I began to put two and two together and realized, hey it’s the weekend before 4th of July maybe they're just getting donations for a BBQ for the homeless or needy.

Something still irked me about the whole thing, so I opted not to buy anything, instead giving a few dollars in the plastic jar one young women was holding on the way out.

It really dug on me on the way home, the things they were asking for. It got me wondering why those items? Normally don’t we see canned goods and powdered milk during Thanksgiving and the winter holiday season? Why so many perishable goods like raw chicken and beef? and why Powdered Drink Mix?

I would assume if your running some kind of outreach program for the needy or poor a nutritious balanced meal would be the first priority on your mind for those people. The needy need food, yes of course, but more importantly they need nutritious food. They need a balanced meal; they need those vitamins and minerals that they lack in the normal meals they can get. What really gets me is the paragraph before the list even says:

"We provide a nutritious meal to approximately 100 youth every Friday night.."

Upon returning home I tried to search numerous sites to find a list of suggested donations of food, but have been unsuccessful in doing so. I know there has got to be one of the larger organizations offering this kind of advice, but haven’t been able to find it.

Ill keep looking, and in the meantime Im going to call this organization and ask a few questions.

Theyre doing a wonderful thing, and maybe Im not seeing the full picture so I might even get over there to help out.