GLAD Helps Feed 375 In Detroit

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post titled "How Glad ForceFlex Garbage Bags Saved The World". After writing the post, I added a link to GLAD's Facebook Fan Page and asked a simple question. "Is there anyone I can speak to about possible donations?" A few days later, I was asked to provide a mailing address. I did as instructed expecting to get a letter in the mail explaining donation procedures, but instead I found 750 GLAD ForceFlex trash bags on my front porch! These bags will help feed 375 people in the city of Detroit. So, on behalf of Twelfth Street Food Pantry...

  THANK YOU GLAD FOR THE DONATION!!!

URGENT: HELP NEEDED!!

Detroit is one of the hardest hit cities in the country by the recession.  We have thousands of people hungry, unemployed, under educated and generally under serviced, but where are the thousands flocking to help?  In 2012 Detroit, there are many non-profit organizations that will help you, but who’s helping them.  We need volunteers!  Detroit ranks number 32 out of 51 of America’s largest cities when it comes to advertising.  So how can we move to the top 10?  

As some of you may remember, volunteer work is required to fulfill most college requirements.  I can remember my psychology class as being the first time I volunteered.  That experience followed me into adulthood where I eventually grew to love a “job” that helped people.  I fell in love with the act of helping people for free during my college years, but what if you didn’t go to college? 

Not surprisingly, “individuals with higher levels of educational attainment engaged in volunteer activities at higher rates than did those with less education.”  That’s straight from the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s mouth.  When we look at numbers, the statistics are enlightening, to say the least.  For people aged 25 and older, 42.4% with a college education volunteer, compared to 18.2 with a High School Education.  That means twice as many college graduates are volunteering in a city with a 59.74% HIGH SCHOOL graduation rate. Yup, statistically, that equals a lot of people that DON’T volunteer, but why?  Just because you don’t have a college degree doesn’t mean you don’t care about your city right?

I’ve asked several people why they don’t volunteer and the same seems to be the same across all demographics, “because they don’t pay”.  Sigh...  No, volunteering does not pay you in the form of a check, but you get REAL experience that can lead to more money.  For instance, I volunteer (for free) for a non-profit in the area.  I am doing all their marketing (for free) and gaining more experience and know how than any school could teach me (for free).  In addition to the real world experience I am gaining, they don’t pay me so they work around MY schedule.  That’s right boys and girls I get to work my full time job and move towards my career goals AT THE SAME TIME.  How many organizations will let you choose your schedule while you use them to learn? 

Another benefit, it reduces cost and helps people.  Non-profits are usually not exactly rolling in the dough, so when they cut cost they are able to help more people.  The satisfaction of knowing you made a person’s day should be enough, but if not there are numerous benefits to volunteering.  I’ve named a few in this blog.  The trick is to gain as much from your volunteer work as the people you help. If more education is given relating to the benefits of volunteering, maybe we can get more volunteers.  Food for thought.

How would you educate people and get more volunteers for Detroit?  Leave a comment below. 

Find More Information Below:

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Detroit Free Press

How Glad ForceFlex Garbage Bags Saved The World

FlexForce Bags Filled With Food

Sometimes, my mother can be very ambiguous in her descriptions.  She’ll say things like “Paint it a colorful color” while helping me pick out paint, or “Just take a little sugar and some butter…” when making cookies, or “The pantry gives out bags of food.”   In my mind’s eye I pictured a brown grocery bag filled to the top with canned goods and microwaveable meals.  I never expected to walk in and see boxes and boxes of 120 count GLAD ForceFlex 18 gallon garbage bags filled with nutritious fresh foods.  Who would’ve known? GLAD is helping to save the world one bag at a time.  Well maybe not the whole world, but at least Detroit is getting some support from the red and white clad hero.

They Come For The Food

Three hundred fifty six 18 gallon bags were individually filled with foods such as fresh chicken, yogurt, bread and cereal and then lovingly passed out to the community with a smile.  My task was simple; I divided the life saving bags and doubled them up to make sure they wouldn’t burst when filled with two weeks of food for a family a four.   Once the bags were filled, other volunteers brought them to the front of the pantry to be handed out.  As I looked at all the food being packaged into each bag, I couldn't help but think of the number of broken bags BGE (Before GLAD Era).  With 18,000 – 24,000 people being serviced in the community every year, I thought “where would Batman be without Robin?"   Today, the pantry has plans to expand its service area once again in order to feed even more people and ForceFlex has agreed to come with the pantry.  Like any real hero, the bags plan to assist its faithful sidekick every step of the way, even if the Twelfth Street Food Pantry outshines the superhuman powers of GLAD’s ForceFlex 18 gallon garbage bags. 

If you want to help, we need donations and volunteers! Please E-mail Marjo at info@willworkfor-experience.com for information.

So Detroit, what seeds have you planted today? Sow Detroit.
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Why Would Anyone Save Detroit?

It is certainly well known that Detroit is a city close to destruction and most people don’t seem to care.  With one of the lowest employment rates and highest crime rates in the country, most would prefer to forget about Detroit and focus on the “solvable” problems of the country; saving Detroit, would be a waste of time, money, resources and human capital, so why do it?  I have asked myself that same question time and time again. 

When I graduated from college, I got a good job, made good money and moved to a suburb of Detroit and away from any knowledge of Detroit’s problems.  Sure, I still visited from time to time, but I was cozy in my own little world and “Detroit” remained to me, as it was when I was a child.  I suppose you could call me sheltered, but it was more like an unintentional safety zone that I never left.  All I had seen of the city was my engineering parents and the comfort Ford Motor had afforded my family my whole life.  Then the recession hit and Ford stopped giving money to A LOT of families.  Without a bag of “o-positive government bailout,” my STATE was going to slowly bleed to death.   The local media ran stories, the national media started conversations and the country watched as a city built on the auto industry, nicked a major artery and began the cold descent to death.  The city was hemorrhaging and my little suburban world began to get REALLY uncomfortable.  I couldn’t find the type of job I had always dreamed of, crime was spreading everywhere and streets were flooded with people who had gotten kicked in the teeth by the recession.  I began planning to leave the state because if Detroit goes the state goes and why would anyone want to save Detroit?

It was a stupid question and I was hit with images of what Detroit used to mean to me.  Kite flying on Belle Isle with my Dad, family trips to apple ciders; even the time a scarecrow (my neighbor) scared the crap out of me while trick or treating; Detroit is my home.  Michigan is my home and there is no way Michigan can be the same if it loses its largest city.  Can you name a state that’s doing well despite the crumbling of its major city?  I didn’t want to leave and if I want to be successful in Michigan, I’d have to be a part of Detroit’s success.  Apparently, I wasn’t the only person that felt that way. 

Since the recession, Detroiters have stood together to help feed their neighbors, protect their streets and pray so hard to God I’m surprised it hasn’t caused the second coming.   I’ve never seen so many people in my city actively working towards a sustainable change.  The PEOPLE of Detroit have brought art, technology, business, entertainment, education and countless other beautiful things into the heart of the city and it’s only getting better.  When you watch your neighbors literally put their blood, sweat and tears into rebuilding a forgotten city, the question changes.  Why not save Detroit?  Obviously someone thinks the city is worth saving and we aren’t stopping until we get the job done!