Ben’s Wish blog

The weather couldn’t have been better, but it wasn’t the sun that made feel the warmth of the day.  All the people that helped out, made contributions, and just stopped in to support the effort really left us with a warm afterglow.   The inaugural Ben’s Wish event really came together.

We don’t have a firm accounting of the collection yet.  There will be an informal count on July 8.   The Hunger Network will have a distribution meeting in September.  This is when all the pantries will come together to distribute collected items.  We will have the count prior to then.  As a preliminary note, we did collect approximately 8 filled bulk boxes with food items.  All in all a great day!

Big THANKS to all the people that helped us get there.  Donations of $2 bills, Time involved, materials, artwork, etc… Everything counted toward the success.   Some of the groups to be thanked are:   

 JAG Outdoor Advertising,     Baylake Bank,    Associated Bank,    Downtown Green Bay,    Algoma Lumber,   the city of Green Bay utilities group,   Green Bay Packaging just to name a few…

From here we need to reflect on what we learned, what worked, and what didn’t.   Of course we saw some areas for improvement for next year.  This was expected as I had no idea of what we were getting into in the first place.

If God allows we will continue our efforts for many years to come.  We  just need the strength to do the work.  Somehow this was never a problem for Ben.  He just did what he thought was right.  If we could all only see this clearly…

- Peter

Well I’m not much of a blogger, but thought that now was the time to make some updates.

Saturday is our inaugural effort to launch Ben’s Wish. I admit to being nervous about this. We have asked a lot of people to participate and have had a huge positive response. What makes me nervous is that it is difficult to know if the general public is getting the information – or how receptive they are to the message.

The Ringing of the Liberty Bell will begin to let us know how successful we will be. This is a really cool event as it does so much. It brings small children to the 4th, it teaches history, and with the inclusion of Ben’s Wish, it also teaches giving back to the community we are part of.

Here is some big NEW news. There is a side effort that was just started by Associated Bank. Individual branches have agreed to sell “paper apples” for $1 each. These proceeds are to be distributed to the pantries as well. When thinking about it, it fits perfectly. We collect goods as given by the public. If there is a shortage in a specific area, the pantry now has a slush fund to purchase the goods as needed. Cudos to Jim & Jessie at Associated Bank ! I heard there was one teller that was able to sell 65 apples in one day – WOW. Be aware that not all bank locations are participating – yet.

The media is getting some of this out, but in the end, I prefer the old fashioned “word of mouth”. It is much more personal and effective when your friends talk about this. So get out there and pass on the news! Dare I say it? Get off your cans for the Ben’s Wish cause! Pretty corny isn’t it. Well I did say I’m not too much at this.

After the 4th is finished we will get an accounting the results. We will let you all know how it went and maybe add some pics – if I can get focused…
– Peter

Welcome to Ben’s Wish.org!  We hope you find this website informative and useful.

We have a number of events coming up:

Bryan’s Angel Classic – Family miniature golf.  Proceeds go to help children with cancer and their families.

Fireworks Over the Fox – Green Bay’s fireworks, sponsored by Festival Foods, on July 4th.

Hunger at Festival Foods – an ongoing collection at Festival Foods stores in Green Bay.