Day Thirty

We're having strawberries in our lunch tomorrow.

Today is the last day.

I spent most of the day considering this. I kept thinking about what I wanted to eat, what I was going to write about. I thought about all the folks who have been reading, leaving comments, and donating money to our project. I thought about how we would make the donation to the Community Resource Center. I thought about how the daily conversations with my students and colleagues would change after today.

I think it was all that thinking that gave me a headache at the end of lunch. Of course it could have been the lack of calories as well.

Having just finished our last meal as part of this experiment, I am thankful for all that I have learned this month. Thankful for the dialogue that has come as a result. Thankful that we’ll be able to help a local non-profit, and thankful that…it’s over.

Tomorrow we’ll spoil ourselves at each meal. It’s weird because while our diet will return to having a variety of foods, including more fruits and vegetables, I feel somewhat guilty knowing that while we splurge the fact remains that billions of people will not have the option to eat what they would like.

I figure that we’ll continue to post a few entries after this one. An entry tomorrow is appropriate, and of course an entry to show that the donation has been made to the CRC. So, stay tuned for those last few entries, and if you have yet to donate, please make sure to do it by the end of the week.

We’re still about $200 away from our goal, but I am confident that we’ll make it to $1,000.

Thank you for everything, and here’s to an increase in calories!

– Christopher

Daily Totals:

Breakfast: 1 Slice of toast w/ Peanut Butter – $0.15

Lunch: 1/2 PB&J sandwich – $0.15

Dinner: Wheat Gluten cutlets w/ Gravy – $0.31, Polenta – $0.09, 1 slice of homemade bread – $0.10, 1 TBSP margarine $0.06

Dessert: 1 Peanut Butter cookie – $0.06, 1 Cup of Tang – $0.07 (Christopher only)

Christopher Total: $1.00

Kerri Total: $0.92

Donation Total: $822

(THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO DONATE!)

NOTE: If you think what we’re doing is interesting, inspiring, or just plain nutty, consider SPONSORING our efforts. Simply enter in an amount, click “update total” and follow the prompting. If you don’t have PayPal, it will let you use a credit card. At the end of the of the month all proceeds will go to the Community Resource Center (here in Encinitas, CA). We will post evidence of donations at the end.

Day Twenty Nine

This yellow dot is smiling because we are almost done!

When Christopher and I first started talking about trying to do this, we did not talk about blogging. That idea came later. I was nervous about that aspect the project. I hadn’t though much about telling people about it; it was just something we were going to do. One day at the grocery store, Christopher told our favorite checker about our plans. When we left the store I scolded him for telling someone. If I remember correctly, my actual words were, “Stop telling people about it. We are weird enough as it is.”

What started as a discussion between Christopher and myself over how much we spend on groceries has turned into a conversation with a wide range of people joining in and the issues are bigger than our weekly shopping.

I had interesting conversations in August with friends and family who were interested, but they were skeptical about whether or not we could do it. Some (our parents included) were concerned about our health. Questions about what we are doing always lead into discussion about issues such as poverty, consumption, and waste. Our friends and family have shared this with their friends and family. Then total strangers started reading.

I won’t claim to have answers or an insight into how to address all of the food related problems (or the other issues associated or steming from food). My hope is that through our month we have made people think about the day to day struggles people all over the world have to face just to eat.

I realize that there are many different scenarios for what poverty looks like and our project does not fit all of them. That would have been impossible to do. There were nights that I went to bed hungry and days where I looked at my lunch and thought, “Really? That’s it?” But I can’t say that I have now have been through everybody’s experiences. But, I do feel that I have learned from this.

Despite the fact that I cannot wait for something new to eat on Wednesday, I know that some of our eating habits will change. We both love waking up to fresh baked bread and coming home after school to the smell of our refried beans simmering in the crockpot (I still love beans and rice). Tomorrow will be hard, but unlike millions, I will go to bed on Tuesday night knowing that when I wake up I can have whatever I want for breakfast. I promise it won’t be oatmeal… not for a long time.

Thanks for reading,

Kerri

Daily Totals:

Breakfast: 1 Slice of toast w/ Peanut Butter – $0.15, Tang – $0.07 (Christopher – 1 Cup), $0.04 (Kerri – 1/2 Cup)

Lunch: 1/2 PB&J sandwich – $0.15, 1/2 orange – $0.09

Dinner: Salad – $0.11 (1/4 carrot – $0.03, 1/6 heart of romaine – $0.08), 2 TBSP dressing – $0.06, Polenta – $0.09, 1/2 can diced tomatoes – $0.25

Dessert: 1/2 peanut butter cookie – $0.03

Christopher Total: $1.00

Kerri Total: $1.00

Donation Total: $787

(THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO DONATE!)

NOTE: If you think what we’re doing is interesting, inspiring, or just plain nutty, consider SPONSORING our efforts. Simply enter in an amount, click “update total” and follow the prompting. If you don’t have PayPal, it will let you use a credit card. At the end of the of the month all proceeds will go to the Community Resource Center (here in Encinitas, CA). We will post evidence of donations at the end.

Day Twenty Eight

Koi fish at the Self-Realization Fellowship in Encinitas.

To make good on my promise of finding a part of Encinitas that I previously had never been to, today we visited the Self Realization Fellowship center. Although it was quite beautiful, walking through the meditation gardens among plenty of other visitors didn’t help me come to any “realization”.

However, there was a moment in the hermitage (the former home of Pramahansa Yogananda) when we had to wait in order to enter down one of the halls. A woman dressed in a robe made of sheets simply looked at us in order to indicate that it was not our time. A minute or two later, a couple emerged from the hall and at that point she again indicated (without speaking) that we could enter.

At the time, I didn’t think much of it.

Yet, upon further consideration, it makes me wonder what the world would be like if most of our interactions were of this nature. If we were cautious and at ease. If we communicated quietly and as if the place we inhabited was sacred.

Now, I don’t practice yoga, nor do I have much interest in other new age forms of spiritual understanding. Yet even I must acknowledge that this month has been a time of personal growth and reflection that has been transformative at some level. This has been a time when I have examined the way I live and come to better know myself. I will look back at this month and remember it for the rest of my life, and I know that I will live each day differently as a result.

When we left the SRF we passed by a pond full of koi fish, and I took a deep breath and thought, “Only two days left.”

– Christopher

Daily Totals:

Breakfast: 1 Slice of toast w/ Peanut Butter – $0.15, Tang – $0.07 (Christopher – 1 Cup), $0.04 (Kerri – 1/2 Cup)

Lunch: Beans – $0.07, Rice – $0.08, Potato – $0.05

Dinner: Salad – $0.11 (1/4 carrot – $0.03, 1/6 heart of romaine – $0.08), 2 TBSP dressing – $0.06, Polenta – $0.09, Marinara Sauce – $0.13, 1 Slice bread w/ 1/2 TBSP Margarine – $0.13

Dessert: 1 peanut butter cookie – $0.06

Christopher Total: $1.00

Kerri Total: $0.97

Donation Total: $787

(THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO DONATE!)

NOTE: If you think what we’re doing is interesting, inspiring, or just plain nutty, consider SPONSORING our efforts. Simply enter in an amount, click “update total” and follow the prompting. If you don’t have PayPal, it will let you use a credit card. At the end of the of the month all proceeds will go to the Community Resource Center (here in Encinitas, CA). We will post evidence of donations at the end.

Day Twenty Seven

A delicious dinner of white flour and white rice covered in homemade gravy.

“I don’t feel good” has been the slogan around here lately. My sickness this week has been followed by Christopher having an upset stomach for the past 24 hours. I spent most of the day moping around with a headache. We have not been a cheerful lot today… well, the dogs have, but they are always happy.

I actually seriously considered quitting twice today. Trying to do everything that we do with such a change in diet has been a challenge. On top of not feeling well and running on less fuel, I am trying to keep up with everything I need to stay on top of at work (grades are due Monday and I have been frantically working all day to get caught up), trying to figure out what we can afford to eat, and just dealing with the everyday stresses of life has been difficult.

Adding this to the fact that we only have a couple of days left does not make it easier. When we started, I looked forward to meals because even if it was not much, it was new and an adventure. Now I get annoyed trying to decide what we should have. Even writing about it seems like a chore many days. I feel like I have nothing new or insightful to say. I have moved away from thoughtful and on to whiny. I am even whining about that.

We had ramen noodles today. It was hard to find something ready to eat, so we took the lazy way out. As usual with ramen, it seems like a good idea for a meal, and I might have even enjoyed it while I ate , but afterwards I wished I had eaten something else. Despite the fact that I was longing for it earlier, I now realize that we have been lucky to avoid it. It is filling, but it has very little nutritional value, and too much salt.

Three days left,

Kerri

Daily Totals:

Breakfast: 1 Waffle – $0.20, 2 TBSP syrup – $0.08

Lunch: 1 package Oriental Flavored Ramen Noodles – $0.17

Dinner: Wheat Gluten cutlets w/ Gravy – $0.31, Steamed White Rice – $0.05, 1 slice of homemade bread – $0.10, 1 TBSP margarine $0.06

Christopher Total: $0.97

Kerri Total: $0.97

Donation Total: $717

(THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO DONATE!)

NOTE: If you think what we’re doing is interesting, inspiring, or just plain nutty, consider SPONSORING our efforts. Simply enter in an amount, click “update total” and follow the prompting. If you don’t have PayPal, it will let you use a credit card. At the end of the of the month all proceeds will go to the Community Resource Center (here in Encinitas, CA). We will post evidence of donations at the end.

Day Twenty Six

The Mobile Market delivers produce to hundreds of people in West Oakland. Photo by Gregory Dicum for SFGate.com

In West Oakland there are 53 liquor stores and no grocery stores. There is a 99 Cents Only store, but that is as close as it comes to accessing fresh produce. The primary sources of food are fast food restaurants and snack foods from corner stores.

The 24,000 people who live in this area are mostly black and latino, 35 percent of whom live in poverty. I originally learned about this when reading a past issue of Adbusters magazine. Upon further research I found that as a result of the situation, community projects have sprouted up in order to provide healthy foods and fresh produce.

The fact that people in West Oakland must travel a few miles in order to buy wholesome food is a sad one indeed.

The fact that I never knew this when I lived in the bay area is shameful. If I had known about this while living in San Francisco, I would have stopped complaining about having to travel ten city blocks to pick up my organic produce.

It just goes to show that if we take some time to learn a little bit more about our communities, or other parts of our cities, we can find a different reality, one that may surprise and possibly disturb us. So this weekend I plan to find a part of Encinitas that I currently have no previous experience with.

To discovery,

Christopher

Daily Totals:

Breakfast: Oatmeal – $0.05

Lunch: 1 Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich – $0.31, 1 Peanut Butter Cookie – $0.06 (Kerri only)

Dinner: Wheat Gluten cutlets w/ Gravy – $0.31, Salad – $0.15 (1/4 carrot – $0.03, 1/6 heart of romaine – $0.08, TBSP Garbanzo beans-$0.04), 2 TBSP dressing – $0.06

Dessert: 1 Peanut butter cookie – $0.06, 1 near-Cup of Tang – $0.06 (Christopher only)

Christopher Total: $1.00

Kerri Total: $1.00

Donation Total: $717

(THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO DONATE!)

NOTE: If you think what we’re doing is interesting, inspiring, or just plain nutty, consider SPONSORING our efforts. Simply enter in an amount, click “update total” and follow the prompting. If you don’t have PayPal, it will let you use a credit card. At the end of the of the month all proceeds will go to the Community Resource Center (here in Encinitas, CA). We will post evidence of donations at the end.

Day Twenty Five

I now know beans.

We finally had our friend, Dave, over for dinner. I was about nervous having him over because I wanted to make sure that I would still get enough to eat. Fortunately, I did. He said he was surprised by the portion we were able to feed him. We had a typical dinner of bean, rice, and potato burritos. That was one of the least expensive meals we could make and still afford for all of us to eat. I do, however, feel that I need to clarify that when we say burrito, it is really like a taco or taco sized burrito. These are not huge, Rico’s-sized-can-feed-you-for-two-days burritos.

As we calculated our costs, it was exciting when we realized that we could afford to have cookies. Laughter came into our mostly serious conversation as we recounted for Dave the Great Cookie War of 2008. I still think I was right.

Having company for dinner made me think about how much food plays a role in social gatherings. A couple times I have turned down offers to go out for coffee with friends of mine. I realize that I could go for the conversation, but I would have felt awkward staring longingly at their cups. Last night at the lecture there was a reception before and a reception afterwards, both had food and drinks. In the reception afterwards there were plates piled high with fancy food items. It was more than just appetizers, it looked like enough food for everyone to have a full meal. We did not stick around.

Counting down the days,

Kerri

Daily Totals:

Breakfast: Oatmeal – $0.05 (less than a cup cooked – Christopher only)

Lunch: 1 Bowl of Southwestern Soup – $0.18

Dinner: 2 Bean, potato, & Rice Burritos – $0.39 ( Beans – $0.07, potato – $0.10, Rice -$0.14, Tortillas – $0.08)

Dessert: 1 Peanut butter cookie – $0.06, 1/4 cup Tang – $0.02 (Dave only)

Christopher Total: $1.00 ($0.23 portion of Dave’s total)

Kerri Total: $0.99 ($0.24 portion of Dave’s total)

Dave’s Total:$0.47

Donation Total: $717

(THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO DONATE!)

NOTE: If you think what we’re doing is interesting, inspiring, or just plain nutty, consider SPONSORING our efforts. Simply enter in an amount, click “update total” and follow the prompting. If you don’t have PayPal, it will let you use a credit card. At the end of the of the month all proceeds will go to the Community Resource Center (here in Encinitas, CA). We will post evidence of donations at the end.

Day Twenty Four

Former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Louise Arbour was appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2004. Photo CP (Martial Trezzini)

We spent tonight at the Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego as attendees of their distinguished lecture series. Tonight’s lecture from the Honorable Louise Arbour, the former UnitedNations High Commissioner for Human Rights, helped me understand the connections between security, development and human rights. Her talk, titled “Crafting Human Security in an Insecure World,” was the opening to the Women PeaceMaker Conference at the IPJ.

In the spirit of this conference, I think it appropriate to recognize that according to the United Nations Population Fund, “More women than men live in poverty and the disparity has increased over the past decade, particularly in developing countries.” Additionally, “Improving women’s education helps reduce fertility and child malnutrition and improve maternal and child survival.”

I think it’s important to recognize this because many of us make assumptions about what it means to be “poor”. We make assumptions about who lives in poverty. And of course, assumptions as to why people live in poverty.

We started this project with little (if any) focused reason to put ourselves in such a challenging situation, and I have found many of my own assumptions changed by this experience. What makes this experiment even more rewarding is that I have been given the chance to dialogue with others about their own assumptions concerning food, poverty and a whole host of other issues.

I’ve noticed a stark contrast concerning who people see as “the poor”. I’ve made comment in a previous post about the lack of conversation concerning poverty in our own country. I’ve also posted some data about the number of people around the globe living on very little. While there are certainly themes woven through both scenarios, each individual situation and individual set of circumstances is different.

The most distressing part of these assumptions is that many of us make broad generalizations about issues based on a belief we have surrounding a particular scenario. For instance, “I know someone on welfare who sits around and collects checks,” turns into, “poor people don’t deserve to just be given handouts, they need to earn their keep.” While there may be some truth in that particular instance, the danger is that all of a sudden “someone on welfare” morphs into “all those poor people.”

I watched this happen at a meeting today concerning discounts for students who can’t afford prom tickets. Assumptions based on individual experiences were being translated into what could become school policy. The challenge lies in recognizing that our own experiences, no matter how powerful, cannot possibly account for the infinitely diverse number of experiences regarding an individual’s economic situation.

I would not think of asking anyone else to try and eat on a dollar a day in order to test their own preconceptions, but I challenge you to try this: Spend five minutes writing on each of these two topics…

1. Write down everything you know about “poor” people. (Five minutes)

2. How do you know this? (Five minutes)

Leave it to a teacher to give you an assignment. Please post your reflections to this exercise. I’d love to hear what came out of it for you.

– Christopher

Daily Totals:

Breakfast: Oatmeal – $0.05 (less than a cup cooked – Christopher only), 1 Slice of toast with peanut butter – $0.15 (Kerri only)

Lunch: 1 Bowl of Southwestern Soup – $0.18, 2 Tortillas – $0.08 (Both Christopher only), 1 Bean/Rice Burrito – $0.15 (Kerri only)

Dinner: 2 Bean & Rice Burritos – $0.29 ( Beans – $0.07, Rice -$0.14, Tortillas – $0.08)

Dessert: 1 cup Tang – $0.07 (Christopher only)

Christopher Total: $0.67

Kerri Total: $0.59

Donation Total: $717

(THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO DONATE!)

NOTE: If you think what we’re doing is interesting, inspiring, or just plain nutty, consider SPONSORING our efforts. Simply enter in an amount, click “update total” and follow the prompting. If you don’t have PayPal, it will let you use a credit card. At the end of the of the month all proceeds will go to the Community Resource Center (here in Encinitas, CA). We will post evidence of donations at the end.

Day Twenty Three

Tomorrow I will sleep like Mrs. B

I don’t feel well today. It is not necessarily from our diet; I have had sick, sneezy students for the past two weeks. I woke up this morning with a sore throat and a headache that seemed to get worse as the day went on. It is 7:20 right now, I feel achy and all I want to do is go to sleep (don’t worry I am not looking for sympathy, I am just letting you know how I feel).

I am staying home from school tomorrow so that I can get some rest and try to get better. With limited fuel, I don’t want to run myself down too much.

With almost every action, I have been comparing my situation to those in need, or my perception of those in need. I am taking a sick day from work and it is a pain to make sub plans. I was at school late tonight making sure everything was in place so that I can take a day to get well. However, I will not be docked any pay or have a risk of losing my job because I do not go in tomorrow. This is not the case for many working poor around the world.

That is all for tonight. I don’t have much to say.

Kerri

Daily Totals:

Breakfast: Oatmeal – $0.05 (less than a cup cooked), 1/2 piece of toast with peanut butter – $0.10 (Christopher only), 1/2 cup of Tang – $0.04 (Kerri only)

Lunch: 1 Bowl of Broccoli Potato Soup – $0.27

Dinner: 2 Bean, Rice, & potato Burritos – $0.39 ( Beans – $0.07, Rice -$0.14, Potato – $0.10, Tortillas – $0.08), 1 extra tortilla – $0.04

Dessert: 1 cup Tang – $0.07

Christopher Total: $0.88

Kerri Total: $0.82

Donation Total: $702

(THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO DONATE!)

NOTE: If you think what we’re doing is interesting, inspiring, or just plain nutty, consider SPONSORING our efforts. Simply enter in an amount, click “update total” and follow the prompting. If you don’t have PayPal, it will let you use a credit card. At the end of the of the month all proceeds will go to the Community Resource Center (here in Encinitas, CA). We will post evidence of donations at the end.

Day Twenty Two

Take a minute to really understand what this is showing.

In high school, I repeated math every summer.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t learn how to do it; I just didn’t care. What did math really have to do with life anyway? I was too busy booking concerts, playing music, and developing my passion for activism. I did o.k. in most of my classes, but honestly, what I was doing outside of school was more important. I developed skill sets generally unavailable in most high school classrooms: autonomy, ambition, determination and compassion.

Yet I often wonder how different my schooling experience would have been if my math teachers had tried to connect their content to the real world. Higher level math is essential to understanding how to compute data, run formulas, and break down complex economic equations. If my teachers had framed math problems in real world challenges, I may have spent my summers continuing my studies out of a passion to help others.

In viewing the site GlobalIssues.org, created by Anup Shah, I have learned much about the interconnectedness of issues that effect the global community. In specific, he does a great job showing how poverty and hunger are tied together, and continuing the web, shows how most poverty around the world is a result of political decisions made by world leaders. Essentially this means that people are choosing to let others suffer while they are filling their own stomachs. I get nauseated just thinking about it. I encourage you to visit his site and learn a thing or two about these issues. Here’s some questions that you might find answers to if you visit:

How much of humanity lives on less than $10 a day?

Is it true that more than 25,000 children die from poverty everyday?

How many people entered the 21st century without the ability to read or sign their names?

How many people live without electricity?

Is it true that the richest country on earth has the widest gap between rich and poor?

I promise that the answers are there, with citations and links. So please take a look and post a comment about your findings.

In other news, we’re having our friend Dave over for dinner tomorrow night, so we’ll have to eat even less than usual tomorrow. I’m very interested to see how it goes. I wonder if he’ll leave hungry, or if he’ll be satisfied. I can’t wait to see what he has to say about this whole thing, and it will be a great way to continue having this conversation.

Here’s to an even smaller tomorrow,

Christopher

Daily Totals:

Breakfast: Oatmeal – $0.05 (less than a cup cooked)

Lunch: 1 Bowl of Broccoli Potato Soup – $0.27, Half an Orange – $0.09

Dinner: 2 Bean & Rice and Burritos – $0.29 ( Beans – $0.07, Rice -$0.14, Tortillas – $0.08), 1 extra tortilla – $0.04, Taco Sauce – $0.12 (Kerri only), Lettuce – $0.04 (Kerri only), Margarine – $0.02 (Kerri only)

Dessert – 1 Cup of TANG – $0.07 (Christopher only)

Christopher Total: $0.81

Kerri Total: $0.92

Donation Total: $652

(THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO DONATE!)

NOTE: If you think what we’re doing is interesting, inspiring, or just plain nutty, consider SPONSORING our efforts. Simply enter in an amount, click “update total” and follow the prompting. If you don’t have PayPal, it will let you use a credit card. At the end of the of the month all proceeds will go to the Community Resource Center (here in Encinitas, CA). We will post evidence of donations at the end.

Day Twenty One

Yummy Southwestern Tortilla Soup.

We have ventured into new territory. Soup! One of the challenges we’ve faced is trying to make a variety of meals with limited ingredients. We are eating a good deal of bean, rice, chickpea, and tomato based foods. I am sure there are infinite numbers of meals that we could create, if we had the time to look.

While the meals we have made have been good, it requires more planning in advance than we are used to. On Saturday, I made a loaf of bread, a batch of wheat gluten, a pot of refried beans, and a soup that will feed us for two more meals. Today I made another soup for dinner that will last just as long. This is probably close to enough food for the remaining nine days. It helps to prepare the food in advance so we are not left without something to eat.

I believe that in some ways this will change the way we will make food beyond September. I went to the grocery store the other day to find inexpensive frozen peas and I spent some time wandering down the aisles. It is interesting how many prepackaged and frozen meals there are. Of course, they are fast and easy to make, and I am sure that some of them are quite tasty. Still, it seems sad that this, along with fast food, is the Standard American Diet.

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of days when we come home from work tired and the idea opening a can of soup or going out seems much more appealing than getting something together from scratch. Many times (before September) we would give in, even if we knew it was not good for us or it was more expensive than eating at home. I am also not saying that we will never eat prepackaged food again. However, I am still excited by the thought of knowing all of the ingredients in what we are eating.

Another benefit is that there is also considerably less packaging with the way we are eating and therefore less waste. We took the trashcans to the curb tonight and we had a full recycle bin (but we had not taken it to the street for two weeks) and our trash can had only 1 bag in it.

Kerri

P.S. We made smaller tortillas this time and were able to get more out of the batch. That is why the cost has changed.

Daily Totals:

Breakfast: 3 Pancakes- $0.15 (Kerri had only 2), 2 TBSP Maple Syrup – $0.08

Lunch: Spaghetti – $0.30 ( pasta – $0.15, 1/2 cup sauce – $0.15)

Snack: 3 Tortilla Chips w/ Guacamole – FREE (Christopher only – Foraged from grocery store)

Dinner: 1 Bowl of Southwestern Tortilla Soup – $0.18, Salad – $0.15 (1/4 carrot – $0.03, 1/6 heart of romaine – $0.08, TBSP Garbanzo beans-$0.04), 2 TBSP dressing – $0.06, 2 Tortillas – $0.08

Christopher Total: $1.00

Kerri Total: $0.95

Donation Total: $652

(THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO DONATE!)

NOTE: If you think what we’re doing is interesting, inspiring, or just plain nutty, consider SPONSORING our efforts. Simply enter in an amount, click “update total” and follow the prompting. If you don’t have PayPal, it will let you use a credit card. At the end of the of the month all proceeds will go to the Community Resource Center (here in Encinitas, CA). We will post evidence of donations at the end.