Post about "charity"

One of the most inspiring facets of our economic downturn is the extent the public has embraced the concept of immediate personal charity as salve for our problems.

Publix, a regional supermarket in Florida and the Southeast, recently sent its store managers a memo with a great suggestion. Result: there’s a table near the entrance at my local store with what appear to be several filled paper grocery bags. Each bag has a price ranging from $7 to $20, and a list of items it will contain; items that pretty easily translate into everything you need to prepare an inexpensive but nourishing meal.

Publix's Instant Foodbank

The local stores each get to identify a local charity to forward their customer’s donations; my Publix chose Lake Park Elementary School and followed up by not only providing the food to families in need through counselors at the school, but also arranged field trips to show how supermarkets work behind the scenes.

Publix is one of the biggest United Way sponsors in our county, so this is no isolated instance of giving. The company could easily say that alone satisfies its community commitment; the fact it chooses not to brag about its United Way work and finds additional ways to encourage us to help each other says a lot about the company, its employees and its customers. When I was buying one of the bags the manager shared that they’re doing very well with donations in a neighborhood that is a good mix of income. This is not just rich helping poor.

I don’t wish this economy on anyone, and I’m encouraged that while it may get worse first, we may be seeing some signs that show we can at least see the bottom. But there have been some silver linings to these economic stormclouds. One of the biggest is the immediate personal charity that is reflected in people “paying forward” cash in toll lines and supermarket checkout queues and buying a symbolic bag of food to prepare a second meal for hungry neighbors when you shop for your own.