I didn't have gloves when I went by the recycle bin so I pulled a few empty boxes out of a bin (many people don't break them down flat like they're supposed to) and at the SUV tailgate I carefully filled each with discarded paper, then tossed them to the back of the bin. No paper cuts! (I have been known in the past to retrieve good boxes when I needed a specific size for shipping or other projects. And I sometimes use it in as a "lasagna" layer under mulch to keep down weeds in the garden.)

In early spring a friend sent some fabric that he wanted made into COVID masks; this project is about three years too late but I made some and sent them back. End of that enterprise. There were several yards of fabric left so yesterday at his request I mailed it to a family member of his who will see about making some quilted projects that feature the pattern printed on this fabric. I paid to ship it, but it still counts as a declutter.

Early this morning on my drive to the friend's house to feed her cats I noticed some traffic cones on the boulevard next to a church. A sign said something about a "new pantry location." When I drove back past there 30 minutes later a line of cars standing in the curb lane stretched south for three blocks, all waiting their turn to pull into that parking lot to pick up food pantry donations. Since March when the emergency SNAP allotments ended (and the GOP House refused to consider extending food security legislation) the problem has become increasingly apparent: people don't have enough to eat. Those who can pick up their food in their own vehicles presumably have a way to fix what they pick up. Many more homeless need food that can be eaten as is, and cans that can be opened with a pull-tab. I'll be picking up those kinds of foods on each trip to Town Talk from now on to donate at the local community fridge (I haven't been back for a while, but I think they got the fridge up and running again at the location nearest me). And dry goods and personal essentials. And I will continue my purchase of an extra sandwich to offer if there is someone panhandling near a restaurant I'm in. I keep a few $5 bills in the console in my SUV to hand out of the window at red lights when someone is working the median for donations. And when the garden produces more than I can use and give away here, the excess will go to the community fridge. It takes a village; I can't feed everyone but maybe I can keep one or two people alive for another day.