Reverse Advent Calendar

Around Thanksgiving, I began to notice a few people posting on Facebook a really great idea for a Reverse Advent Calendar. The idea is that each day you add an item to a box and on Christmas Eve donate the contents to a food bank. Awesome idea right?!

I had every intention to have this done before the month started, buuut next thing I knew it was December 3rd and my designated “Grocery Shopping Day” so I figured better late than never! Today, 40 million Americans are food insecure (meaning they are often forced to skip meals, eat less at meals, buy cheap non-nutritious food and/or feed their children but not themselves). Thats an astonishing 1 in 6 people, many of which are children and elderly. Any reason is a good reason to donate food to a locate food bank. 

It only took me a few extra minutes to find some items that I don’t usually purchase, but other than that, it was a regular trip to my local Market Basket. I was able to scoop up the 24 items on the list for under 30 bucks… $29.83 to be exact. And to be accurate, I aaaccccttuallly bought 1 extra item (25 total) because I could not get myself to buy peanut butter without its counterpart jelly… just didn’t feel right) Below is the receipt for proof. Thankfully, I remembered to separate the bills so I would know exactly how much it cost.

The items on the list ranged in price from 50 cents to 2 bucks. If anyone has little ones in their lives this is a could be a fun opportunity to teach them about charity/giving and use the list as a scavenger hunt. Which is what I felt like I was on, after realizing I walked by the canned yams 4 times before actually finding them. When I got home I did a little photo shoot with all the items so I could make this blog post and to create a campaign of FB posts to hopefully INSPIRE others to do the same.

I hope that seeing how affordable and easy it can be to help fill up our local food banks would inspire a few more people to do the same! Even if it’s not feasible to add a whole “Reverse Advent Calendar” list to the shopping cart, you could always just grab an extra item or two and drop them at the door on the way out. Many grocery stores conveniently have a bin located at the door to help encourage donations.

I am going to commit that I will help contribute all year round and not just a once a year bulk buy.  Now when I do my weekly shopping, I will purchase at least one item to donate. Over a year it will accumulate to 50+ food items. Imagine if everyone who does the shopping commits to the same or similar. Thousands of non-perishable goods could flood the food banks and help end hunger here in America.

Next time you see that BOGO sale, make sure you stock up!….BUT give to those who need it more! Or if you are NOT the grocery shopper of your household but this story tugged on your heart strings and compels you to help, there are other ways! You can always donate money to Feed America.  Or if you have time available, many of these organizations are always looking for volunteers.

^^Look at all these great items that will help those in need. I don’t want to wait until Christmas Eve to give, as someone may need it now, so I’m dropping off the bags this week.  Don’t let someone go to bed hungry tonight… DONATE TODAY!! List of Food Banks in Massachusetts.

Much love lovely people ✌️ Alana