At the end of the year 2011, we were signed up to pick up “day old” produce from a local grocery store. Initially, this was fully intended to feed the pigs and give treats to the horses, llama, goats, rabbits, and chickens.
After the first of the year, we were picking up 20+ cases of produce 3 times a week, which was 60 to 75 cases of fruit and vegetables every week. Charlotte, the pig, was gorging herself, as she ate, snored, ate, and snored, LOL. We fed all of the apples, pears, peaches, and some bananas to the horses. We gave lots of lettuce, carrots, and cabbage to the rabbits and quite of an assortment out to the llama and goats. We were still left with an abundance of fruits and vegetables.
We decided that since God had blessed us with an abundance of food for the animals, we would in return bless the community with boxes of produce to help families who need that extra support in their weekly budget. I started sorting out fruit and vegetables, separating the packaged items for the community from the loose vegetables and fruit for the animals. I made up 8 to 15 boxes of produce to give out to the community 3 times a week.
My posts on Facebook went something like this:
*FREE PRODUCE* BROOKSVILLE/WEEKI WACHEE AREA:
We have 6 boxes of produce full of fruits and vegetables ready to be picked up for you to share with your family. The boxes today included yellow, red, and green peppers, grapes, oranges, tangerines, potatoes, onions, fresh strawberries, canteloupe, lettuce, tomatoes, etc.
We also have boxes of slop for your animals as well.
Please contact me if you would like a box of produce to take home for your family.
Domino Effect Rescue Ranch.
“People Helping Animals Helping People”
Robert & Dinelle Ashcraft.
10370 Snowbird Avenue
Weeki Wachee, Florida 34614
(352) 596-3104
We had a lot of regulars whom I made up boxes for each week and others who called me randomly to come and make a pick up.
“YOU MUST BE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT, if you got haters”
A FB friend of mine reposted my “Domino Effect “FREE” Produce Days ad on her page to help me spread the word one afternoon. Nikki Tobin jumped on the band wagon to share her 2 cents about our kind gesture we extended to the community.
NIKKI TOBIN’S COMMENTS REGARDING THE FREE PRODUCE:
Nikki Tobin They aren’t offering it for people to eat are they?
Nikki Tobin I’m not sure that’s safe…. For farm animals ok but they get it because it’s expired and the stores can’t sell it. People shouldn’t be eating it, I’m just a little confused on this
Nikki Tobin Wasn’t really confused just hoping nobody was actually getting it to eat I used to work at a place that gave expired food away and usually the food they got rid off is not good to eat or very sanitary, I wouldn’t want anyone to get sick because they thought it was ok to eat expired food.
I stated at the bottom of this post:
Domino Effect If I give you a box of produce, it is good produce because I personally made that box up just for you. It is like day old bread, etc. where the store has to rotate their product (fruits and vegetables) and they can only keep it in the store for so many calendar days before they have to get rid of it. They don’t get rid of it because it is bad, but because it is past the store date in which it has to be sold. There is nothing wrong with the produce or I would not offer it to the public, but just use it all for pig slop. But because there is so much good produce we are receiving all week long, I think that there are good people in the area that could benefit from the extra help filling their refrigerators and eating fruits and vegetables that they may not necessary have the extra to afford in their budget. We have such an abundance of “good” produce right now that we want to bless anyone who we can share it with rather than give it all to the animals. The animals have so much produce each week, they cannot eat it all. We are about helping the community. When we are blessed in abundance, you can be sure that we will bless those around us with our extras.
Since Nikki Tobin and her mother, Maryann Tobin, had been bashing us here at the Domino Effect Rescue Ranch since November of last year, I chose to ignore this, as these statements appeared to be quite ignorant coming from someone who had not personally checked out the produce for herself, but yet was criticizing our character, as if we would give out anything spoiled or moldly to the public that would hurt someone.
After this, Brittany Capps decided it was her turn to “MAKE A DIFFERENCE” after her and I had a disagreement of her adoption agreement with Thunder. (will explain more in time).
*NOTE* Brittany, herself, picked up 4 boxes of produce for her and her family as well on 2 different occasions
She called the Sheriff’s Department out to our place on a Monday afternoon because the HCAC office was closed that day for Martin Luther King Day.
This was her e-mail to HCAC and then to Mike Deeson with Channel 10 News.
——– Original Message ——– Subject: FW: pictures of their own from face book From: Teri Blake <TBlake@co.hernando.fl.us> Date: Thu, March 01, 2012 7:34 am To: “‘robert@dominoeffectrescueranch.org’” <robert@dominoeffectrescueranch.org>
“mold produce ” Sheriff went out over the weekend” because we have called on them, They knew he was coming because of our messages back and forth with each other. So they cleaned up their mess. They just got a FRESH truck load in from Publix of fresh produce. Domino Effect told Sheriff it was for all of the animals. Sheriff told me on the phone ” the strawberries looks so sweet and fresh he could of ate them” AGain i told him they don’t give the pets good foods they give it out to their facebook friends and give the molded slop to the animals. That night on their facebook The Posted free Produce for the people and slop for the any ones animals….. How can Plublix give free expired produce out to a rescue ranch that dosn’t have a 501C3? AND is only supposed be for the animals. NOT for the people. A health hazard?”
We were NEVER scolded by either the sheriffs department and/or HCAC for sharing our donation with the public, but sometimes when you give your heart and the time out of your day to go through each and every box of produce prepparing boxes for local families and someone just squashes you efforts in an instance, it tends to feel dirty after that. We did it to share and we gave it for free, only for those to use it as leverage to slap us in the face.
SHAME ON YOU BOTH for being so CRUEL!!!
Oh, by the way, here are those beautiful, red, juicy strawberries that looked “so sweet and fresh he could of ate them” And let me tell you, they were delicious because I ate them all by myself, LOL!!!
Author: Dinelle Ashcraft
Domino Effect Rescue Ranch.
“People Helping Animals Helping People”
Robert & Dinelle Ashcraft.
10370 Snowbird Avenue
Weeki Wachee, Florida 34614
(352) 596-3104
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