…”Snowmageddon” will deter us from launching our food backpack program this week.

Last week included lots of online price comparisons which resulted in my ordering a variety of shelf-safe food items from Amazon.  They’re not kidding – you really can find anything on Amazon!  And there’s something wonderful about having it all just show up on your doorstep.  Then this weekend my good friend and Thrive supporter, Oliver, took me on a tour of Costco.  He has a membership, I do not.  I thought it might be helpful to check out the product and prices.  So Sunday morning, leading up to the Super Bowl and the next in our series of intense storms, we trekked to Costco in Everett where we were able to enjoy the company of nearly everyone in the surrounding communities.  It was a madhouse! But who better to share the experience with than Oliver?

Now my downstairs den looks a bit like a shelf-safe food pantry.  I can hear Nurse Maureen saying, “I thought we had agreed to have the food delivered and stored at the school?”  What can I say except that the best laid plans sometimes need to be adjusted.  Given the number of snow days recently as well as the navigational challenges, somehow it just seemed easier to do it out of my house this week.

Today would normally be the day I pick up the weekly produce from Food For Free.  When I checked in with them, they explained that even they would be working a “limited schedule” today.  I can’t imagine the challenge of navigating vans through all this snow to all the various locations where they pick up food that would otherwise go to waste.  It’s crazy out there!!  So I will collect produce from Christian and Julio tomorrow instead.

• Shelf-safe food – check
• Ziplock bags – check
• Bins for carrying prepared food bags – check
• Completed forms from families – check
• Plans for initial distribution process by Nurse Maureen – check
• Produce pickup –  tomorrow
• Confirm final count  – TBD
• Food bags packed and ready to go – Thursday evening
• Food bags delivered to Nurse Maureen – Friday morning
• Food distributed to kids – Friday lunchtime

Countdown to kick-off!!