A summertime reminder

In warm weather, I often have Janis running through my head, singing "Summertime, and the living is easy ...". Only it's not easy for everyone. Not for the tens of millions of school children who received free or reduced-price lunches at school.

That's why it felt especially good to drop off a little bag of  food pantry donations on my way to the post office Saturday. The local visitor's center has a wicker basket by the front door designated for that purpose. This makes me happy, because tourists in our town know that we support our own. And it's a reminder to every local who walks by we look out for one another in this neighborhood.

Sliced pineapple, mandarin oranges, tuna, rice, mustard,* green beans and tomato soup. That's what I dropped off today. It cost me less than $8 to buy that food. And somebody who needs help -- a kid, a retiree, a person between jobs who is spending everything on COBRA -- will get it. That's really a pretty cheap way to make myself happy.

To find a food pantry near you, click here.

*People forget to donate catsup and mustard! But hot dogs, burgers and sandwiches are cheap summer eats that can always use some livening up.