Final Thoughts

The food drive has ended and I have many mixed emotions. Before I try to explain those thoughts, I should thank many of the people who helped so much.

First there was Ann Walters. Back in July she took me out to lunch and showed me how to use Blogger. PATIENTLY, she taught me some basic maneuvers. As time went by, Ann made herself available day and night to answer the dumbest questions. She also gave me some good advice.


Cindy Spurr was also an amazing help. While I found the idea of listing "blogspot.com" too awkward for my taste, Cindy's company Creative Ace was able to give me what I really wanted: a web address that ended dot com. I knew I had to buy the website name, but I didn't know I had to pay to have the site "hosted". Cindy offered to help me design my site and she also offered to host the site complimentary, an incredible savings. It was a testimony to my own stubbornness that I refused the design Cindy gave to me for the website. I felt my own "blog" was all that was needed. I chose to toss all of Cindy's hard work for the option of having a direct link to my blog. I am so appreciative of her understanding.


And finally, I would like to thank Jack Armistead for the great price for the ads in The Downtowner. Not only did Jack give me a great price, but when I described what I wanted in the ads, he was able to create that design exactly.

A huge Thank You to these three individuals!

As for the rest of this post, I will confess that in previous years I have run a very relaxed food drive. I have distributed the invitations (or green beans) and just sat back and waited for something to happen. I had a very laissez faire attitude! In the final week, I would call anyone who expressed a desire to help, schedule a pick-up and then go get whatever donation was available, which occasionally was nothing.

This year I became a little obsessed. I wanted so much to have a huge impact; I really wanted more than 50 restaurants to participate and at least 4-6 tons of food. With the addition of this blog/website and the ads in the Downtowner, I never thought this would not be accomplished. My dreams had no barrier, and I truly anticipated a huge response.

One last note. In 2008, after I had turned in all my paperwork, I was introduced to a woman at the Foodbank. I was under the impression she was a director or another person in upper-management. She said something then that I realize now was just a flippant remark. She said, "If you do this again, we are going to put you on TV on one of the afternoon newscasts." I took her at her word, and tried numerous times to contact her after November 1st. Realizing she might be very busy, I then tried contacting others at the Foodbank, including their own blog writer. Finally I wrote the Virginia-Pilot asking for a small human interest story. Since I was physically unable to invite every singe restaurant in Norfolk, Virginia Beach or Chesapeake, I thought a brief story might open the drive to anyone and everyone.

In the end, there was not one new contact created by the website or the Downtowner ads. Sure, many of my friends and family tuned in regularly to see the new posts, but not a single restaurant contributed as a result.

As this realization hit me, and as I realized I might have a lower total of participants than in previous years, I began to panic. In the last days of the food drive, I experienced the greatest amount of attrition than ever before. "We forgot" was the excuse given to me by more than 10 restaurants, despite my weekly outreach to all the participants!

In the end I never heard a word from the Pilot or the Foodbank. However, we were able to collect 700 pounds more than last year, plus the large outpouring of cash. And for this I am truly thankful. Those few restaurants who participated gave so much more than last year. Huge donations came in from Tanners Creek, University Pizza, and the Boar's Nest. The Freemason Abbey, Doumars, Hells Kitchen and Baxters also increased their donations.

But it may be months before I can let go of the "coulda, shoulda, woulda" syndrome. I am having a hard time forgiving the excuses of so many bartenders and waiters, employees who are still walking out the door with more than $100 or $200 a night. I only asked for 50 cents out of every hundred dollars, and only once a week...! What could I have done to promote this better... Why did so many "forget"? And on and on and on it goes!

I am not sure I learned any lessons this year. I don't know what I could have done different. But in the end, there is no learning curve, because this was the "blow-out" year. I will be unable to do this again next year. And despite my disappointment, I believe I am smart enough to realize what an incredible journey this has been. In the last four years, Kirk Springer (me!), has almost single handed been able to convince others to donate more than 5 tons of food to the foodbank, and more than $2,500!

And so the Green Bean Challenge comes to a close. Hunger will continue in our region and elsewhere. Please do not stop giving, especially in the summer months when donations plummet. Thank you for reading my blog!