What’s wrong with this place?
So, we saw that the Food Bank needed help with all of the food pouring in. They needed people to check the food, sort it, place it in the proper places. So we sent an e-mail volunteering for the Food Bank, and we got back a message: “Thank you, but we’re full up on volunteers right now. We’ll contact you when more are needed. They’ve got so many volunteers helping them right now that they can’t fit anymore into the jobs that need to be done.
What’s wrong with this place?
Well, we went out to get some groceries at King Soopers and as we walked in, we saw all these people out there working on donations, so we gave them a check. They were busy all over the place. One woman gave people some information sheets, telling what they needed, and you could buy it in King Soopers while you shopped, and then give it to them as you leave.
We saw people coming out of the store with huge bags of groceries and giving them to the volunteers.
We saw the volunteers running all over the place, stacking the donated groceries in the designated areas, putting can good in one place, glass and plastic containers in others. They were so busy, they couldn’t stop and talk. We asked them anyway: “How much have you collected?” Their answer: 6,000 pounds of groceries. And the supermarket was going to match what they collected.
What is wrong with this place?
We were curious, so we called the Food Bank and asked how much they collected. The Food Bank Director, Bob O’Connor, said they got the idea to set up the collection areas at the local stores, and in 36 hours they had 130 volunteers at 13 grocery stores and collected 54,000 pounds of food. And the stores will match that. O’Conner called it “the most successful collection in the history of the Food Bank.” He called Greeley and Weld County the greatest community in the state.
What’s wrong with this place?
I stopped at a small store, and the flag out front was at half-staff. I asked the clerk why, and he said, “For the people lost in the flood.”
What is wrong with this place?
We heard all week about the people who volunteered to help people clean up their homes, of volunteer firefighters in the small towns that pitched in to help others, of the National Guard coming from other states to help, of police officers and firefighters and just plain neighbors and friends who worked 15 hours a day to help the people in need.
What is wrong with this place?
We’ve got the sheriff’s deputies not only helping the victims of the floodwaters, but they’re collecting dog food and hay bales for the dogs and horses and cattle that were stranded and need the food. We’ve got churches opening their doors to victims, private pools opening their showers, clubs and businesses collecting things like towels and clothing and food and water and toiletries and textbooks and just plain cash or anything else the victims of this flood will need.
What is wrong with this place?
Not a damn thing.
The name Gnarly Trombone was taken from an 1871 Cincinnati newspaper that misread Horace Greeley’s handwritten name of the Greeley Tribune. Mike Peters is a retired Tribune staff writer. He may be emailed at mpeters26@comcast.net.
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