By Polly Campbell
The Cincinnati Enquirer

It's a good week for eating out: Restaurants are decorated and bustling, full of office parties and gift exchanges. Champagne and dessert seem appropriate. It's a nice time to indulge yourself and meet with friends when everyone's in a good mood.

It is also a week when your thoughts naturally go to people who are not eating out, who are maybe not even eating much at home, and whose choice is not between the fillet and the sea bass, but between eating and paying the gas bill.

So my radical suggestion for this week is to not go out, or to spend less and donate what you save to the FreeStore/Food Bank or another food charity. Better yet, eat out extravagantly and make a charitable donation matching the amount you spend on yourself.

You know how easy it is to spend $25 at the mall food court or fast-food place for a quick lunch for your family. That's how much the FreeStore needs to feed somebody else's family of four for a week, says Tammy Reasoner, public relations manager.

If you do go out to eat with folks from work, have one drink instead of two or three, and you could have $10 to donate to the FreeStore's Kids Cafe, so a few more children will have balanced meals over the holidays when they don't get school lunch.

Or, give up your morning latte and bagel for one week and donate the amount you would have spent so someone else can have Christmas dinner.

Another suggestion: Restaurants provide many entry-level jobs. So how about a generous tip for that minimum-wage restaurant worker? Tip the pizza delivery guy the same 20 percent you would give the servers at the Maisonette.

The FreeStore/FoodBank serves a 20-county region in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, distributing food to 300,000 people every year, and serving 500 nonprofit agencies. Send monetary donations (every $1 received translates to $7 worth of food distributed) to 1250 Tennessee Ave., Cincinnati 45229.

If you prefer to donate food, drop it at 112 E. Liberty, Over-the-Rhine. If you'd like to volunteer, especially later, (the agency already has a lot of volunteers for the holidays), call the volunteer coordinator at 482-7543.

E-mail pcampbell@enquirer.com