I’m back from talking to Anna Wingate, Randy McElliott and others who run the Resource Distribution Council. They were operating a mobile pantry on South 56th Street – across from their old location – and in high spirits.

It’s been a tough time for them lately, and they look like they’re pulling through.

Wingate and others from the RDC stood in the parking lot of Grace Place on Friday afternoon. It was the third consecutive week they distributed food outside the church on South 56th Street.

While people and organizations came to pick up boxes of food, the RDC accepted donations of food and other necessities, including blankets, coats, paper products and baby formula.

The story will run Monday, but you can listen to Wingate, the founder and president, speak about what was going on Friday and the future of the food bank.

You can also read older stories of it here and here or click here for my former blog posts about it.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget we’re fighting a war on two fronts. Local TV news carries few reports from Iraq and almost nothing from Afghanistan. Newspapers – this one included – bury stories from Baghdad and Kandahar deeper as the wars drag on. And for many Americans, the wars haven’t affected life on a daily basis. There’s no rationing, no pleas for war bonds, no draft.

Anyone who regularly reads this blog knows that we here at Word on the Street are big on the military – especially the joes who are the most in harm’s way. It’s not easy being away from loved ones, especially during the holiday. It’s probably doubly difficult if you’re in a military hospital recovering instead of exchanging gifts by the Christmas tree.

But we can help, even if just a little bit. The American Red Cross is accepting cards with messages of support to wounded service members. It works like this: We fill out and mail in the cards to the Red Cross, it bundles the, Pitney Bowes Government Solutions then ships them to military hospitals. They must be received by Dec. 27, so you must send them soon.

Everyone knows cards aren’t a substitute for a healthy body and quality time with the family, but hopefully they can make a bad situation just a little bit better.

Click below to read get more details and read the press release:

=> Read more!

Several readers have called my cell asking how to sign up for Pierce County’s Medical Reserve Corps. I’m all about people volunteering and talking to readers, but I want to point out that a how-to-sign-up box is on the front page of our paper.

If for some reason you can’t find it, here it is again:

Call coordinator Justin Schumacher at 253-798-7675 or click here.

The Department of Health and Human Services has launched an investigation into the October discovery of prescription bottles originating from the Kmart at 1414 72nd Street East in Midland.

Community activist Stacy Emerson, who discovered the bottles near a homeless camp behind the store, forwarded The News Tribune an e-mail from an equal-opportunity specialist with the Office for Civil Rights, which oversees the medical-privacy law known as HIPPA. The department reviewed and approved the investigation, the e-mail states.

No timeline for completion was provided, but the specialist did say the department is investigating a large number of other complaints.

Emerson estimates there were about 50 bottles. The labels on about 25 of them contained identifiers like names, addresses, phone numbers and birthdates.

A agency spokeswoman earlier had told The News Tribune the department couldn't comment on an investigation before it is completed.

I just received an e-mail from Holly Minniti, who shot some of the StopCrimeOnTacomaAve videos.

Posting video to YouTube was successful in that it banded neighbors together. It provided the impetus for gathering and working on a plan to make our neighborhood safer and better. Was it worth the risk and the negative reactions? Probably. When you find out that prostitution rings are using the internet for making transactions and talking about the best place for business I think it only fitting that we use the web to fight these and other unlawful behaviors.

I did read the comments on Exit133 that asked why we would keep airing our videos thus showing people just how unsafe our neighborhood is. Ignoring the problem does not make it go away. I'm just not willing to say that all is rosy and crime has been eradicated due to our efforts. I think a head in the sand mentality only perpetuates the problem. But we have taken the videos down from public access.

They are now private only (accessible to invitees). We will continue to shoot footage to assist the police in making arrests and sending letters (to suspected johns). Our work on crime will be continual and we will all have to be diligent!

She also tells me new ownership at the Vintage Apartments have decided there won't be on-site management of the 89-unit building.

Not that I’m trying to turn this blog into a list of links to Bay Area newspapers, but I did come across this column in the Contra Costa Times from a man who recently attended his 60-year reunion at Lincoln High School.

(But really, how can you go wrong with a logo ripping off the Purdue Boilermakers but with Honest Abe at the gears? Sorry Stadium Tigers and Bellarmine Lions and Foss Falcons -- your logo is just not as cool.)

Today I’m going to swing by a mobile pantry for the Resource Distribution Council food bank to get an update of how things are going.

I’m also hacking away at a few other stories: crime-fighting on the Web, robot-assisted surgery and deep-brain stimulation surgery. It’s that time of year where we scurry to get a lot of reporting done because the next few weeks are mighty lean (not a lot going on, people are on vacation, etc.).

And, as always, if I see or hear something cool, I’ll let you know.