From Top Shelf To Food Shelf Pledge Drive #4

I know tUMD men are facing back to back series against the dreaded bye week, and it’s yet another road weekend for tUMD women, so there’s not much momentum in Bulldog Nation, but From Top Shelf To Food Shelf weekend is coming nonetheless!

The 4th Annual From Top Shelf To Food Shelf pledge drive will run Dec 9-11. If you live under a rock/were in a coma/recently landed from a galaxy far far away, here’s the deal. From Top Shelf To Food Shelf was established (by me, duh) in 2013 after my car got stuck halfway into the street (or if you’re an optimist, halfway in my driveway) and three strangers helped me push it back into the driveway. I wanted to pay it forward and also spur tDogs on to victory after a rather disastrous sporting weekend (the men and women were both swept).

In three years, hockey fans have raised $3676 and 345 food items. Remarkable!

Here are the rules of engagement:

1. Dream up a pledge based on the performance of your hockey team Dec 9/10/11. The pledge can be related to basically anything that can be quantified. Goals, wins, saves, PIM, etc. Most pledges are money, but some are cans of food, hams, jars of peanut butter (warning: PB is expensive), or even clothing items (socks, hats, gloves, etc).
2.  Choose a food-related charity in your community or in the community in which your team plays. I live in Duluth and my teams conveniently play here, but if you live in Kampala, Uganda and cheer for AIC, you could choose a charity in Kampala or one in Springfield.
3. Click this link to go to the official pledge form! This is new this year! My friends at BC Interruption helped me out with this. It will help me keep organized, and keep all the pledges in one place. There is an option to make the pledge anonymous, so only you and I will know you’re the person behind the pledge.
4. Spread the word. Share the movement on your blog, on social media (#FromTopShelfToFoodShelf!), and even in real life, if you interact with others in that way.
5. Tally up what you owe. I keep track, but I do not send out reminders. If you ask directly I can verify. If you choose to round up or if you need to modify your pledge, please tell me.
6. **Donate directly to the charity you’ve selected.** I don’t collect the money. I trust that you will make this donation.

It’s very simple. So easy a caveman St. Cloud fan could do it! (Actually St. Cloud fans have been some of the most generous participants and I love them for it.)

I’m really excited to see how this year’s pledge drive will do. It’s been a hard month, but it’s also been a month where folks have already stepped up their giving, especially in the first days after One Of The Worst Moments In US History That Didn’t Directly Involve Violence (Though It Indirectly Did And Continues To Do So). Hereafter known as OOTWMIUSHTDDIV(TIIDACTDS).

Pledge what you can. I promise there’s no amount too small to make an impact, and there’s something exciting about being part of a collective effort to improve the lives of others in your community. If you’re not able to make a pledge, share this post and help spread the word. This year, it would be so awesome to have a pledge from every D1 college hockey fan base (and more! NHL, CIS, D3, club, mites, anything goes!). Can we make it happen?