The news these days is often depressing at worst and frustrating at best. It’s easy to let it get us down. Never fear… The News Blender has you covered. Once a week we feature Something Good and, in return, all you have to do is tell us something good that has happened to you this week, something you are thankful for, a joke, a cute animal story, an inspiring tale of heroics, a Random Act of Kindness… SOMETHING good.
Today’s something good is a rotisserie chicken.
Alexander Tominsky, for some inexplicable reason, challenged himself to eat a rotisserie chicken every day for a month. The 31-year-old Philadelphian then extended his challenge to 40 days, because 30 didn’t feel like he had “gone far enough”, according to the New York Times. Unlike others who set out on a challenge like this, there was no bet he lost. He has no YouTube channel. He would not be making any money on this challenge.
According to Alexander, the reason he decided to devour a rotisserie chicken every day for more than a month is because much of the world is in pain, so he must do something that brings him pain to make others smile.
He said, “Sounds weird. But I just felt like I was doing this for a very important reason.”
Initially, it wasn’t even a challenge – he could eat a chicken in 20 minutes. But, by the end, he found the pain he was looking for. The chicken was typically the only meal he ate for 40 days. It was salty and greasy and even the sound of tearing into the bird made him ill. His stomach was bloated and, at one point, he believed he could hear his heartbeat through his stomach. He lost 16 pounds through his self-imposed ordeal.
On the final day, October a crowd gathered to watch Alexander force himself to eat one last chicken. It took him two hours to consume it and the city that had lost the World Series and the Major League Soccer Cup the day before found redemption of a sort. When he was victorious, Alexander raised his empty plate above his head and sang along with the Bruce Springsteen song “The Streets of Philidelphia”.
In spite of the real pain he endured, Alexander said doing it felt worthwhile because the downsides from eating 40 chickens felt “microscopic in comparison to what the world lives with and sees every day.”
His strange challenge lifted the spirits of people who needed it. That’s a bit strange but, good, of course.
However, Alexander was able to take it to another level, according to ABC.
This time he has teamed up with South Philadelphia Community Fridge, a two-year-old organization whose volunteers help feed those in need in the community. They asked Alexander to issue a new and less painful challenge to his Twitter followers: Participate in a rotisserie chicken food drive. People can donate a rotisserie chicken and it will be distributed on December 11 at noon to those in need.
So far, Alexander has been able to raise $1,600 that will go to buying a special refrigerator for a location that currently only has a dry food pantry.
“I ate so much, I pained myself,” he said. “And now it’s time to feed the people that are pained because they don’t have enough to eat”.
The food pantries run by the South Philadelphia Community Fridge, are open 24 hours a day. People can drop off food or come at get food anytime, day or night. The organization accepts donations in the form of money and volunteer time and are very grateful for Alexander’s help.
Rotisserie chickens are good. Attempting to eat one every day for 40 days in order to make people smile is strange but good. However, using the platform gained by one’s 40-day challenge to raise funds and promote a food drive to help people in need and raise awareness of hunger that exists in Philadelphia and beyond is definitely Something Good!
Now it’s your turn… Tell me something good!
