On March 21, 2020, Brian Kuang, a member of the East Cobb AYLUS branch bought $159.62 worth of donations to give to MUST Ministries. The items he bought included nine 29oz-cans of baked beans, sixteen 1-pound bags of pasta (4 packs of 4), and 4 cans of tuna (2 sets of 2). The baked beans were purchased off of Ebay at $5.99 per can. Shipping was $16, making the total after fees add up to be $69.91. The pasta bags were purchased off of Walmart, priced at $12.98 per set of 4 bags with free shipping. The total with tax came out to be $52.96 for 16 bags of pasta. Lastly, the cans of tuna were purchased off of Google but shipped by RWGC. They were priced at $14.46 per set of 2, and shipping was $8.99 so the total after fees came out to be $36.75.
The process of buying goods to donate was more troubling than expected. When looking for the requested products online, most were sold out. This caught me off guard, but then after a quick thought I realized that people were stocking up on supplies due to COVID-19. I had to look deeper than I expected in order to find goods that were still in stock. Canned foods were especially hard to find. Also, things like beef stew were not available for shipping and only for in-store pick up.
The purpose of these donations are to provide food for the kids who are less fortunate in East Cobb. During regular school days, Cobb County schools have a program where they provide kids with free lunch if they are less fortunate. However, due to the recent closing of schools because of COVID-19, this opportunity for free lunch is gone for these kids. Members of the East Cobb branch would like to help those in need.
Reported by Brian Kuang
Donation Participant: Brian Kuang (4 hours)
