I left work early today for a doctor's appointment and afterward ran by Publix for a few items. The last few weeks, they've had a "Feed The Hungry" campaign going. At the register, you can choose a slip of paper with a barcode to donate $1, $3 or $5. Then more recently, they've had a thing where you can donate various batches of food: an assortment of staples, a 'lunchbox' selection or an entire dinner (enough for a family). We try to always do something, at least the $5 but last week we gave a lunchbox and today I did the dinner.

The cashier knows me - we almost always shop at that grocery store - so she was talking with me about the "Feed The Hungry" effort. Originally the store's goal was to get enough food and money donations to feed 500 families. They've already exceeded that, so they reset their goal to 600 families and they've already exceeded that! The goal was reset to 750 and they're above 700 already.

This made me very happy, that in these tough economic times, when nearly everyone is feeling pinched, uncertain and wary, people are still doing what they can to such an extent.