They’re those name-brand ones whose producers shrank the boxes years ago under the slogan: “Less cereal for the same price – for the whole family!”
Even when I get the store brand cereal, which is most of the time, I’m forced to top it off with milk that’s over $3 a gallon. And, personally, I find pulling up to udders with empty plastic jugs even more unpleasant than pulling up to the pump.
All of which may seem like an awful way to begin a column asking my friends and enemies to consider reupping their memberships to the 1200 Club to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of Clark, Champaign and Logan counties.
As past members will recall, Plan A of full-fledged 1200 Club membership involves a $1,200 contribution. Plan B offers full-fledged membership for a donation of whatever you think you can afford in the full knowledge that nobody is keeping track of who’s in Plan A and who’s in Plan B.
The more the merrier.
To make my appeal even less attractive, I’m announcing it now, just days before many of you beloved donors will have forked over thousands of dollars more in capital gains taxes than you have in years past – or perhaps ever.
Because of our accounts, my fabulously wealthy wife and I paid more of those taxes.
We’ve accepted them as part of lavish lifestyle that include two cars. The younger one is 15 now, old enough to be in high school and was given to by my parents when they stopped driving a decade ago.
The older one — also previously owned — is in young adulthood and, as is often the case, is costing us even more than the high schooler. We have to fork over more than $50 to fill its tank, at least $10 more thatn the younger sibling.
But here’s the catch, which I was reminded of by my former boss Sylvia, who also does our taxes.
All of us paying higher capital gains taxes are doing so because our capital made gains – chiefly, for me, the money in retirement accounts grew astonishingly.
The accounts increased by more than the amount I ever earned in a year of full time work.
And that happened without me lifting a finger, something my wife likes to remind me of.
The point?
For many of us, the capital gains amount to a lot more than the $1,200 in stimulus money the government dispatched when the club was founded — and when I dreamed that 1,000 people in our three-county area would be willing to donate it to help hungry neighbors.
This leads me two questions I’d like potential donors to ask yourselves as consenting adults in the privacy of your own home.
The first is straightforward: Am I more or less able to afford the contribution this time around?
The second question, being slightly more complicated, requires some explanation.
Some months ago, I suggested we create a problem exchange modeled after the New York Stock Exchange. On days when we feel burdened by our problems — say, days we go to the grocery — we compare our problems with others we can trade for on the problem exchange.
And that leads us to examine questions like this:
Which is the more serious problem: Having to pay capital gains taxes when gas is $4 a gallon, cereal is $4 a box and milk is $3 a gallon, or not paying capital gains taxes and waiting in line for food to feed your family when gas is $4 a gallon, cereal is $4 a box and milk is $3 a gallon?
I’ll keep the problem I have, thank you, then to use words I hear my African-American friends use more often: I’m blessed.
Still, I want to make one thing clear.
I’m not a frustration denier. While in the grocery the other day, when I looked at the cost of something I used to throw in the cart without a thought, an intemperate word passed my lips.
I’m not proud of that, but it does give me the rare opportunity to share rare bit of good news for my tax-rankled friends: The use of intemperate words in grocery stores remains tax-free.
So, enjoy. And if you want to donate, go to theshfb.org (as in THE Ohio State University) and check out your options.
P.S. I’m going back to bed now, but will leave you with a few factoids about the food bank’s status from SHFB Executive Director “Tireless” Tyra Jackson:
- Due to supply chain issues, transportation cost increases and demand for product, our expenses to purchase food have increased by more than 40%.
- Inflation also affects how much we receive from food drives, and last year our rescued donations from grocery stores were down by more than 20%.
- In the past, we relied heavily on store pick-up of assorted meats and that is almost non-existent now. The need is requiring us to find frozen meat and purchase it at a much higher rate.
- We plan to serve between 45,000-50,000 people annually from this point forward and this year have a goal to raise $1 million in corporate, foundation, and private donations to meet the growing need. The funds raised will go directly to serving the community.
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