Things are so exciting with the Virtual Food Drive — it’s hard to keep up with the donations.

Right now I think I’ve accounted for 3,115 pounds of food donated here and elsewhere, benefiting more than 40 food banks around the country. I’ve also received pledges of $460, which I don’t really know how to count. I’m making a financial donation to FeedingAmerica.org in lieu of giving presents to my clients this year (sorry, Chris!), so that will be even more cash.

Some recent highlights:

• Location3 in Denver had an office drive that collected 124 pounds. That’s their picture of the boxes.
• Up the Street Pete called me from Costco as he purchased 100 pounds — it was taller than his head when we stacked it up! That’s Pete with Craig and some of the food as they wheeled it to my house. Craig also collected a large bin from his building.
• Jenny sent an email to her family about the drive, and her mom in West Virginia and her aunt (I think Phoenix?) both donated. All it takes is a little prompting!
• My cousin Bailey, who recently drove in the first snow to hit Baton Rouge, LA, since 1988, promised to donate a bag of groceries, plus some dentures. Yep — Bailey owns a dental lab.

Please help the final drive to 4,000 pounds. We’re so close!

I have to stop saying the word “Wow.” But it’s just so energizing, so inspiring, so heartening when I find so many people who want to help, strangers who are pledging to donate food to their local food banks to be a part of the Avenue Z Virtual Food Drive.

I’m having trouble keeping up with all the pledges, but I think as of right now, I have received 2,840 pounds of pledges from all over the country, plus another $200 that I don’t exactly know how to convert to poundage. That’s with me getting the math right (I’m using a spreadsheet now), plus upping what I think I’m going to be able to collect here in sunny San Diego (you’ve inspired me so much I’m going to shoot for 200 pounds instead of 100! Collected about 30 so far).

My original goal was ONE TON, or 2,000 pounds, but a ONE TON contribution from the generous couple behind DrGreene.com made me double my goal. So now I want TWO TONS…. that’s 4,000 pounds of pledges to donate. My motto: Give where you live, then leave a comment below.

Here are a few moments from the days on the Food Drive trail:

1. Dr. and Mrs. Greene made me cry when they donated ONE TON in honor of their daughter, Claire, whose high school is trying to set the record for the largest drive ever.
2. A woman ran down the street with cans to add to her donation when I was walking door to door this afternoon.
3. I’m afraid I don’t know what to wear to solicit donations. Earlier this week I accosted … err… approached my neighbors while I was wearing my PJs, and today I got back from a brunch and set out for a half an hour — in high heels and dress clothes.
4. Each and every person who answered the door in my neighborhood either donated immediately or promised to come by. People really want to help! Just ask. It took 30 minutes to collect 20 pounds of food. Small effort that gives big payoffs.
5. I always knew my neighbors were nice, but they’re exceeding my expectations. Jenny sent notices to her strong community of friends. Sondra volunteered to be a drop-off center. Up the Street Pete donated bins and is in charge of a collection spot. Ben from So Cal Free Net put a notice up on the term acceptance page for the free internet service in our area, and good buddy Craig laminated signs for me and is managing a bin in his building. Attention single folks… all these caring folks are single, caring, intelligent, incredibly good looking and interested in moonlit walks on the beaches of San Diego. Write me for details.

Special thanks to the Twitter community, where the message has been tweeted and retweeted to … oh, I would guess 50k people. No, really. 50k people. I’m amazed at the progress that we’ve made so far, but if 50k people have seen the link, perhaps we’ll see the donations increase?

Here’s a short list of organizations that have received  pledges/donations on behalf of the Virtual Food Drive. Please Give where you live and comment below to be counted. And please spread the word!

• San Diego Food Bank

  Ladle Fellowship

  Salvation Army

  Union Rescue Mission

  Metropolitan Ministries

  Greater Chicago Food Depository

  Food Bank of the Rockies

  Twin Lakes Food Bank in Folsom, CA

  Ronald McDonald House

  Grafton, MA, Public Library

  Northwest Harvest

  Tim Horton’s Drive in Canada

  Roanoke, VA food bank

  Caritas of Waco, Tx

  Capital Area Food Bank in Austin, Tx

  www.matthewshelpcenter.org

  The Samaritan Inn in North Texas

  A Church in Madison, WI

  St. Vincent de Paul in Phoenix, AZ

  People In Need in Delaware, Ohio

  Alameda, CA, Food Bank

  Second Harvest in the San Mateo High School drive

I’m seeing the power of social media and the internet in general. Dozens of people from all over the country (and even beyond) have pledged to donate to their local food drives for the Avenue Z Virtual Food Drive. After just two days, we’re already well on our way to getting the commitments we need to raise ONE TON of donated food, ONE CAN at a time.

Have you made your pledge? Leave a comment below!

Here’s the count so far as I know it (does the math confuse you? Check out the FAQs):

• I’m working with my neighbors on the Golden Hill Food Drive here in San Diego. A conservative estimate of what we’ll collect is 10 Bags.
• BigManWalking, a Twitter favorite with more than 1000 followers, pledged to donate 1 Bag (I’m guessing) to Ladle Fellowship in San Diego. Bag Count: 11
  
• The Mighty Erin will take advantage of a collection bin in a grocery store to add her donations, as will my amazing parents. Bag Count: 13
• My generous sister is giving her kids extra credit to participate in their school’s food drive, and she’s going to take my nephews door to door in her neigborhood. I figure that’s good for at least 3 Bags. Bag Count: 17
• Daniel Johnson, Jr. says his church just provided 70 boxes of food for the local Salvation Army, and he’s donating gift cards for perishable items. I’m giving him credit for 2 Bags. Bag Count: 19
• Dawn says she’s adding 1 Bag of groceries to her errand list as she picks up her Toys for Tots. Bag Count: 20
• Paula gets credit for 1 Bag at least since she gets a matching grant when she donates to the Union Rescue Mission in LA. Bag Count: 21
• Run DMT gets at least 1 Bag for cleaning out her pantries to donate to her local food bank, Metropolitan Ministries. Bag Count: 22
• Bonnie is giving to the food drives at her kids’ school as well as the Greater Chicago Food Depository. That’s good for 2 Bags. Bag Count: 24
• Sara Avery is donating cash to the Food Bank of the Rockies because they may be able to buy more with the dollars. She also regularly donates at her grocery stores. 2 Bags for Sara. Bag Count: 26
• Mark Yturralde, aka SDGEEK on Twitter, was saddened by empty donation cans. He’s donating bunches — at least 5 Bags! Bag Count: 29
• Dana Lookadoo was inspired by this drive to donate even more to the Twin Lakes Food Bank in Folsom, CA. 1 Bag. Bag Count: 30
• Laya is donating nonperishables to the Ronald McDonald House. 1 Bag. Bag Count: 31
• Rogers Cadenhead, my editor from college and now a notable author of computer books (or at least I noted that he was an author), added 1 Bag to his donations. Bag Count: 31
• Gopal Shenoy is donating Another Bag of groceries to the public library’s food drive in Grafton, MA. Bag Count: 32
• Jessica Levin gets a credit of 1 Bag for donating to FeedingAmerica.org. Bag Count: 33
• My amazing neighbor Jenny pledged to donate 1 Bag here in San Diego, as did Up The Street Pete (pictured above with my very first actual donation!), formerly known as Cute Coffee Shop Guy. Jenny and Pete are also helping me with the Golden Hill Food Drive Bag Count: 34
• Rickey Gold wrote, “I just got something in the mail from our local food pantry. I was going to donate something before I saw a tweet about your virtual food drive. But now I’m doubly committed.” Yea! 1 Bag. Bag Count: 35
• Catherine Skoor pledged a whole grocery cart to Northwest Harvest for the drive. I’m guessing at least 3 Bags. Bag Count: 38
• Blogging buddy Steph and husband Colin will give their regular 1 Bag of food to Tim Horton’s Drve. This is the first Canadian commitment I’m aware of. Bag Count: 39
• Cinda Crawford is preparing her 1 Bag for a local drive in Roanoke, VA. She reminds us that people with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome need our help and kindness, too. Bag Count: 40
• Christina Wright will donate at her son’s school in Arcadia. Bag Count: 41
• Rebecca Smith is donating food and cash to her local food bank, plus she’s buying a gift for a child through the Salvation Army. She’s also one of those wonderful people who delivers Meals on Wheels year round. I’ll give her 2 Bags because of the cash with the groceries. Bag Count: 43
• Angela reminds us that it’s not just this season…. food banks are in need throughout the year. She’s donating money to her food bank because she’s cutting down on the waste she keeps in her own pantry. Bag Count: 44
• Mark Long, a longtime Avenue Z reader, is inspired to donate to Caritas of Waco, TX. “We should have done this before but haven’t. Thanks for providing the impetus to get us to do this! Bag Count: 45
• D.J. Rausa, otherwise known as the boyfriend, is going to collect in his office building. I’m guessing he’ll come up with 3 Bags at least. Bag Count: 48

Also thanks so much to those of you who wrote about things you’ve been doing, like Sasha who wrote a check to her church to help the very empty Food Bank Cupboard recently, and Madame Soybean who donated warm coats and food already.

Q&A about the Virtual Food Drive:

1. You’re trying to collect ONE TON, which is 2,000 pounds, but you’re counting in bags. How does that work?
   I decided that a bag of canned and boxed goods would weigh about 10 pounds.
2. Did you check to make sure?
   Nope.
3. When someone says, “I’m donating stuff to our food bank,” you give them 1 Bag. How do you know?
   I don’t know. I’m just guessing. But if someone wants to come back and tell me exactly how much “stuff” he donated, I’ll make it right.
4. How can you verify that people are donating what they say?
   I can’t. If someone comes on and says he’s donating and then doesn’t, he’ll have to live with the guilt forever.
5. Why don’t you have nice graphics and one of those cool fundraising thermometers so we can see the progress? This effort looks a little haphazard.
   I’m a perfectionist, and I did want to build something grand. But then I realized I didn’t want the pursuit of perfection to get in the way of action. So I just jumped right in, lame graphics and all.
6. Sometimes people say, “I donated last week” and you don’t count them. What’s up with that?
   My goal is really to get people to commit who haven’t already committed, not just to count what’s been done. But I’m so amazed at the generosity that everyone has already shown. Now to just get the others to pitch in!