The Cash Man

By day, Jeff Sovel is a mild-mannered computer network specialist. But at night, the Wixom, Mich. based mere mortal transforms into “Cash Man,” dedicated to teaching people how they can more shrewdly help the hungry.

Sovel’s basic message is simple: when it comes to helping hungry people, think cash instead of cans. He says when you donate a can you feed one person, but when you donate a dollar you can help up to 20 people.

According to ABC News, he spreads his message while dressed in a cape and muscle suit, and launched a Web site, CashFeedsMore to spread the word. He has turned his car into the “Cash Mobile,” advertising his Web site and encouraging folks to “support your local food pantry.”

He’s even created a rap to spread his message. Seriously. In a ditty that would probably make 50 Cent’s ears bleed, Sovel, dressed in his Cash Man garb, raps, “You donate 10 cans you bought at the store, you get ten cans to pile on the floor. But the money that was paid, about 10 bucks, only feeds 10 people, and that just sucks.”

Cringing aside, Cash Man’s rap reminds us that a $10 donation can go toward buying food in bulk, which can feed more people more quickly. Overall, he claims that if 50 percent of all can donations were cash donations instead, there would be 10 times as much food available to those in need.

So, next time you’re contemplating whether to give your local food pantry cans or cash, remember what Cash Man raps: “Give the cash, dude.”