Lending a Helping Hand

By Matilda Charles
Lending a Helping Hand

I've been looking at 2022, hoping to find some value in my time and money in this chaotic world we find ourselves in, a chaos that doesn't show any sign of ending soon. Two new activities have found their way to my to-do list. For several months I've been buying a food donation card each time I shop at a certain grocery store. It's not much, but I believe I can continue to do this. My goal is to make it through the year without missing one time. These cards are given to the local food bank, which can then use that money to buy food at a discounted rate. This has more financial benefit than if I purchased food at the regular store rate and delivered it to them. I know the food banks around here have been scrambling to keep supplies available, especially since they're serving more families than ever before. Maybe my humble donation will help just a little bit.
The other item on my new to-do list is probably the more valuable. I'll be collecting groceries weekly for three very elderly people in the neighborhood. I learned that two of them had been ordering groceries for curbside pickup -- and taking taxis to go get them because they don't drive. The third ordered her groceries for curbside, but has had them delivered.
So, instead of the extra expense of taxi or delivery, I'll pick up their orders myself. I did a test run with one to be certain there was no problem with me using someone else's credit card to pay for the curbside pickup. The bonus is that these three neighbors, who had never met, now know each other and talk frequently. I understand that there has already been a bit of coupon swapping and recipe sharing.