A Different Kind of Philanthropy

One day I was cleaning out my fridge and discarded some moldy cheese and lettuce that had serious brown spots on several of the exterior layers. A few hours later, I saw that my housekeeper had pulled out these items from the garbage, peeled away the mold and brown spots, and respectively and politely asked if she could take the food to a neighbor who had come under hard times. I agreed, of course—but more importantly, that incident had a lasting impression on my behavior. First, I committed to no longer throwing away any kind of food.  And second, I began a process of cleaning out my refrigerator and freezer on a regular basis and dropping off bags of food to homeless folks where they could be found in many areas of Chicago. Our blue SUV became very well known…it simply signaled “time to eat.