How to put those ‘inconvenient’ extra dining dollars to good use
By Luiz Coehlo
Spring quarter is almost over and many of us (including myself) might be asking “what am I supposed to do with all those dining dollars left?” Everybody knows they do not rollover and the precious money we have spent with them would simply be thrown away.
However, not being able to use them to buy food for personal consumption does not mean that they necessarily cannot be used. An idea that I particularly appreciate, and will implement this quarter, is food donation, through the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB).
The ACFB is widely known as one of the largest food banks of the country. It serves all Atlanta and Northern Georgia, plus the Chattanooga area in Tennessee. It all started at the basement of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in 1979, and, according to its Web site, “currently distributes almost two million pounds of food and other donated grocery items monthly to more than 800 nonprofit partner agencies in 38 counties”.
The food bank accepts any kind of unopened and unexpired food, including many of the snacks and beverages that are currently sold at the Hub. It cannot accept vegetables or “homemade” items, though. Their main priorities are peanut butter, canned tuna, canned beans, canned soups, stews and pastas, fruit juice, canned fruits and vegetables, macaroni and cheese dinners and whole grain/low sugar cereals. So, in case you want to add “extra items,” these are the ones you should look for at the supermarket.
Donations can be left Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the following address: 732 Joseph E. Lowery Blvd., N.W. Atlanta, GA 30318, or at one of ACFB’s partners. A comprehensive list of partners can be found on their Web site: www.acfb.org. The same Web site offers the possibility of donating money online and volunteering in their projects. Also, the ACFB holds “food drives” – community projects of movable stations for receiving food donations. On their Web page, it is possible to inquire about incoming food drives and to see if any of them will be close to a convenient location.
So, in case you don’t know what to do with your unused dining dollars, here is an idea that will help feed the hungry.
