Scan-a-thon for Local Food Pantry is Off and Running

The Scan-a-thon for People to People, Rockland County's largest food pantry is off and running. The Scan Zone will scan photos, slides, convert VHS to DVD and more for its donors and 30% off the top of each bill will go to People to People--in cash.

I'm thrilled to be involved in this one. There are 49 million people in the U.S. who are "food insecure," or unsure of where their next meal is coming from. That's one in six people! In New York State and the county I live in, Rockland County, those statistics are very similar and it means that about 40,000 people are in that situation tonight. In fact one in eight people are receiving some sort of emergency food aid in the U.S. Nearly 37 million people!

The truth of the matter is that if this Scan-a-thon can raise meaningful money to purchase food and that food gets right out to people who really need it, then what powerful a program this is. Think of it, someone who was mulling over scanning their photos anyway will have them scanned and, at the same time, will see money go to People to People--not from them--but from the Scan Zone. The client doesn't donate a penny. I'm quite sure that if that client wanted to add to that donation to the food pantry, that would be alright with everyone.

The Scan-a-thon is a great idea and it will be used for other organizations whose donor base wants to see funds flow to the organization they are connected to without having to come to them to write more checks. There will be additional Scan-a-thons announced over the next few months but this one for People to People leads it off.

It seems to me that more things like this are needed. We are at a time when need is increasing very fast and the resources to satisfy that need is shrinking at alarming rates. We are seeing the first decrease in philanthropy in almost a generation at a time when places like food pantries and food banks are, in many cases, seeing their clients double in number.

There's an ominous statistic from Feeding America, the umbrella group for almost 90% of hunger organizations. That is that more than half of food pantries in the country say they are in danger of having to shut down because of either a lack of funds or a lack of access to food they can afford to acquire and redistribute.

So it's only natural and it's absolutely important to do as many Scan-a-thons as the Scan Zone can. There are many organizations out there that need help. This can be our way of joining the fight to help make our communities better and help put people in a good place. If you want information on the People to People Scan-athon, simply go to the Scan Zone Facebook page. Believe me, someone you know is in need--they probably would never want to let you know about it, but they are. These fundraisers can help make it better for them.