Day of Charity

I know my company isn’t exactly as big as Salesforce or Google, but I still feel strongly that companies can, and should, do more than just make money. We should do good in the world in which we operate and do business. People call it “giving back,” but I hate that term. The Atlanta Food Bank hasn’t done a thing for me, but I agree with their charter and their mission, so I “give” some time to that mission. In any case, whatever you call it, the entire JTS company volunteered at the Atlanta Community Food Bank at a food gleaning event on October 4th. This was a convenience store convention, so there was lots of ready-to-eat food and beverages. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to collect the beer. :-(

When the World Congress Center or other venue hosts a convention that includes food samples, there are typically a lot of leftovers, and most of the vendors don’t want to spend the money or effort to ship or carry that product back home with them. Because of that, the Atlanta Community Food Bank asks volunteers to walk the floor after these events and collect things that can be used by the people they assist. It’s hard work, but it’s actually fun, and it’s a small price to pay for all the food that can be collected.

JTS can’t claim credit for all of it, but we participated in an event that collected 136.984 POUNDS of food!! The ACFB says that’s enough for 114,000 meals for people in need in the Atlanta area. Pretty impressive, right?

So I don’t know if I have any readers here; probably not. But if I do, I encourage you to go and volunteer somewhere. I don’t care where. Go walk dogs. Drive old folks to doctor’s appointments. “Give back,” if you must, but just “Give” something somewhere.