The results are in: Virtual Food Drive blows by goal
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
From The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.
I’ve started this post a half dozen times today, first waxing poetic about why I began the Virtual Food Drive a month ago, then trying to explain how it grew exponentially, then attempting to share the pride I feel about the participants. I just can’t tell the whole story without writing a series of posts, so I will simply get to the point.
With your help, food drives throughout North America received donations, resulting in a total of 3,670 pounds donated, plus $600, which means (if you give the conservative estimate that $1 buys a 1lb can of food), we were responsible for adding more than 4,200 pounds of food to help people this holiday season.
MORE than TWO TONS.
I tried my very best to keep up with the donations, but I might have missed a few. And I want to give special thanks to so many, but it’s hard to single anyone out — everyone who participated was exceptional. Nevertheless, I need to send my local thanks to Pete, Jenny, Andrea and D.J. and the rest of the San Diego crew who helped us deliver 565 pounds to the San Diego Food Bank — this was our part of taking the “virtual” out of the Virtual Food Drive. 
Another big thanks to Ben from So Cal Free Net for his help in getting the word out to our neighbors in Golden Hill.
I also need to thank the Twitter community especially. Several of the truly influential Twitterers took the time to re-tweet info about donating. It all started with BigManWalking, who really sent the info into the Twitter inner circles. Tens and tens of thousands of Twitterers got the message, which led to donations from all over the country.
Here are links to many of the people who left comments about donating and helped spread the word.
I believe we did something important here. I think your contributions mattered. And I thank each one of you for taking steps to help people who need an extra hand.
PS — If you didn’t get a chance to contribute, visit FeedingAmerica.org to leave a donation — they say every dollar you donate can buy 20 pounds of groceries for the hungry.
steph on 26 Dec 2008 at 11:07 am #
Beth: hooray and a hearty congrats!! You really must feel wonderful about this whole thing. What an excellent idea and achievement!
Thanks for thinking this up and organizing it.
SimplyForties on 26 Dec 2008 at 12:59 pm #
Congratulations! What an inspirational story. You should be very proud of yourself and your readers.
Run DMT on 26 Dec 2008 at 2:29 pm #
What you did was a truly amazing task and no small feat! It warms me to know that in this massive blogosphere, people can come together to good for others.
Remember, the needs of the homeless and less fortunate will continue even when the holiday dust settles. Make your 2009 New Year’s Resolution to give what you can each month to the food banks and other charitable organizations.
Pete on 27 Dec 2008 at 11:31 am #
Beth:
I tip my funky holiday hat to you and your crew for a hugely successful effort. I was happy and humbled to be a part of it.
Pete
Virtual Food Drive Results | expertSEM on 29 Dec 2008 at 9:12 am #
[...] food along with $600, which equates to 600 pounds of food, conservatively. Check out the official virtual food drive results. The original one-ton goal was quickly met by one extremely generous couple. Beth Z then upped the [...]
Jenny on 30 Dec 2008 at 10:42 am #
You rock! Congratulations! Thank you for letting me be a part of it! Love you!
Jenny
Connie Baum on 05 Jan 2009 at 12:00 pm #
This is just wonderful. I am SO PROUD of your efforts and the generous outpouring of support for your project!
If everyone did just a little something…ah, but I am preaching to the choir, now, aren’t I?
God Bless,
Connie Baum
http://foodstampscookingclub.com/blog
http://www.foodstampscookingclub.com
Chuck Dundee on 05 Jan 2009 at 9:15 pm #
Good info, thx.
Blogs About Publishing: Life on Avenue Z « TSTC Publishing’s Book Business Blog on 08 Jan 2009 at 3:10 pm #
[...] I like even more is how well she integrates those posts with other ones of a more personal nature: her wildly successful Avenue Z food drive, health issues in her family, and periodic updates on her biking and running [...]
fusedlogic on 09 Jan 2009 at 1:51 pm #
Thanks for the mention! We’ve also had some success in Edmonton in getting people to donate to food banks everywhere.
We recently started a drive to get one million photos of one million food bank donations by the end of 2009. More information on it here:
http://www.fusedlogic.com/?page_id=676
You can post your food bank donation on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/groups/fusedlogicfoodbank/
Keep up the good work!
Come Twitter with me | Life on Avenue Z on 09 Feb 2009 at 9:34 am #
[...] So, over the weekend, I saw Ann Handley from MarketingProfs was Twittering away. MarketingProfs is HUGE, and one of my blog posts was once featured in one of their newsletters, bringing me hundreds of hits and even a couple of new clients. Ann has thousands of followers as well, but she and I had interacted a couple of times when she helped spread the word about my Virtual Food Drive. [...]