The Story Behind of the Green Bag
 
Once upon a time there was, and still is for that matter, a gentleman by the name of Jonathan Trivers.  A few years ago Jonathon and his wife Karen retired to the Sierra foothills in the town of Paradise, California.
 
In thinking about families needing food in his area, and those who would like to help but weren’t sure how to go about it, he came up with an idea of how to bridge that gap.  His idea was simple enough and logically it took the name; A Simple Gesture.
 
Here is how it works.
 
People who sign up to be donators, keep a reusable grocery bag in their kitchen or pantry adding nonperishable food items such as soup, pasta and beans to the bag whenever they can.  Every two months, donors leave the bags of groceries on their porches, and volunteers pick them up and deliver them to food pantries.
 
In early 2015 there was an article in the Wall Street Journal newspaper describing this creative solution to a complex problem.  A member of the Illinois Beach Sunrise Rotary Club saw the article and contacted Jonathan who was more than enthusiastic in supplying additional information.  “It’s natural for people to want to help others” said Jonathan and “sometimes all you need to do is ask”. 
 
In addition, Jonathan referenced Bob Irvine of a California Rotary club. While that club did not initiate the program because of other commitments, a number of their members set up a separate volunteer group and launched the program.  Bob passed on their experiences and suggestions from that program.
 
Based on this information a proposal to bring the program to the Zion area was made to the Rotary Club membership, subsequently approved and a committee formed to lead the way. 
 
Our Zion area program was named The Green Bag and the committee began work to update its web site, www.IBSRotary.org to include the program specifics as well as prepare supporting materials, and design the Green Bag logo etc.  Our Rotary District helped with the web site and local companies, American Outfitters in Waukegan and GoFlo in Zion provided their respective expertise in getting these things accomplished.
 
The goal of the program is increase the number of people contributing food to support the good work of the pantries.  There are two free food pantries serving the Zion area and both are working with Rotary to implement the program. 
 
If you want to participate in the Green Bag initiative, click on the program name on this website and you can sign up online.  We will acknowledge your entry and will get back to you with more information.