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Post by snugglebutter on Dec 13, 2016 1:09:25 GMT
We prefer to write a check each year to the large food bank in our area. It does go a lot farther. I've noticed that most of the food drives in the area are getting a lot more item specific. The schools will have a drive just for peanut butter or hygiene items. I think this is a good idea too. When I was in high school we had those food drive competitions among classes, which just meant there was a ton of ramen and jiffy cornbread donated since those were the cheapest items.
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Post by CarolinaGirl71 on Dec 13, 2016 1:19:27 GMT
We have a good friend who runs a small food bank. All of what you posted has been lamented by him when we are together, especially around the holidays. Schools/PTA's are the worst...kids in school like to SEE the items pile up in contests run in classrooms, one room against another or one grade against another. They don't see money in a check so the processed foods pile up. You should hear what he gets. Expired sweetened condensed milk. Pistachio pudding. A good book to read is Toxic Charity by Robert Lupton. We got around that partly by using thermometer charts for every class. We had lockboxes for money donations and updated the thermometer charts for every class nightly. So much easier than sorting and toting canned and boxed foods. At the end, the food bank got a big check. Win win win. What a great idea! So much easier than carrying heavy boxes of food!!! My DS worked at our local Food Bank (a big one, covers several counties) and they accepted anything, but preferred money because manufacturers and grocers gave them bulk pricing and they could buy much more than I could at the local grocery for the same $$. I have a friend who is on the board of a small, local, church-run food bank. They don't buy in bulk, and they will take food or $$. It goes back to the previous comment - you need to know what enables each organization to feed the most hungry people!
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Post by cmhs on Dec 13, 2016 1:35:45 GMT
I was the coordinator of our local food pantry for a few years. It was housed in the kitchen of a local church. Food donations were vital to its success.
The local cub scout pack holds an annual food drive every November (and the post office every May) and there is a team of volunteers sorting and putting away the donated food. We always have one table for expired or opened food which need to be discarded but we have about 10 other tables filled with usable, much needed food items that sustain the pantry for months.
We were also able to purchase food through our county food bank at a great discount but we never knew from week to week what would be available to purchase, We could always get shelf stable milk and some kind of protein - usually chicken and/or eggs- but the rest of it was hit or miss. So, in order to give our clients the variety of food items necessary to meet government guidelines, we had to depend on food donations.
Monetary donations paid for those food bank purchases as well as gift cards we kept on hand for very needy families or emergencies.
Basically, in my experience, both donated food and money were necessary to keep the place functioning effectively.
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Deleted
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Jun 2, 2024 12:41:03 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2016 1:41:17 GMT
I want to be a little devil's advocate here. Sometimes people donate really cheap stuff, because that's what they are eating too - for food drives, people do tend to shop their own pantries. Some of the stuff I hear about food drives almost sounds like it's not okay to donate generic. What if the giver is eating Western Family Mac and Cheese? Not good enough? :/ My local food bank accepts dry goods and then uses cash and grants to buy the fresh accompaniments, like the milk and butter to make the mac and cheese. The OP is a little disheartening to me, because I think people are often trying to be generous and don't know better. Certainly any time a list has been provided to me for a food drive or bank, I got what was on the list. But sometimes you have to kind of make some decisions not knowing people's actual situations/wants/needs/restrictions. Last night we went to buy a beard trimmer for one of those "pull a tag off the tree and return with the gift requested and the tag" and these gifts would be passed on to adults living in the recovery unit of the local mission. We had an extensive conversation at the store: cord or rechargeable? If someone is living in a residential treatment facility, do they have a place to leave something charging, or do they have to keep their belongings stored away? Is a cord practical or does cordless make more sense? Is this person usually homeless when not living at the mission? Then battery might make more sense. The best option had 21 grooming attachments, that seems like overkill, or is it? My husband thinks men in this home probably don't want a lot of extra trinkets to keep track of; I think maybe they'd like to have some choices. And on and on and on. We just wanted to get what he wanted that would make sense, be practical and last for a long time. Eventually we just picked one (a nice one, with a cord). We did this rather than cash because it felt personal - the tag had a picture of the requestor and indeed, he needed a beard trimmer. The tone of the essay puts me off a bit. I'm not sure I'm explaining it well - maybe I don't understand either!
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Post by natlhol on Dec 13, 2016 3:01:43 GMT
I volunteered at a local food bank for almost a year before my work schedule changed. In the summer, and right after Christmas the food pantry was almost completely empty. Why? Because no one was holding food drives then and no one was thinking about dropping off donations on their own either at those times. Our food bank relied solely on donations from the community, however we also have a larger food bank nearby that helps supplies smaller food banks. They prefer cash donations because their dollar goes farther than a consumer's would. It really is about knowing the place where your donation will be going.
One of my jobs was filling "A" bags and "B" bags. Each "A" bag had the same items in it, maybe 2 cans of veggies, 2 cans of fruit, a box of cereal, etc. A "B" bag has other things in it, maybe peanut butter, can of beans, etc. When the pantry was practically empty, we couldn't even fill one bag that was a combination of A and B.
I was called and told not to come in for my volunteer time sometimes because there was nothing to bag up or to stock the shelves with...all because no one was providing canned or boxed donations.
The community members who needed help would come to the pantry and would be given an A bag and a B bag and then several dairy items such as milk, cheese and butter. I don't really know where those foods came from. If they had a need for baked goods, maybe a birthday or something else, they could ask for flour, sugar, cake mixes and the like. They could also ask for OTC items and diapers. If the food pantry had these items, they would give them with the A and B bags.
As for expired items, our policy was that food that was 6 months or less expired could still be given out. Of course, that sometimes depended on what the item was and expired meds could not be distributed. For example, if a can of soup expired in December, it could be distributed up until June. Baking mixes could not be given out past expiration dates because of the yeast and other ingredients in them.
I think that donating food is not selfish. Sometimes it's all a person can give. Perhaps they can only afford the 10 for $1 canned vegetables. Why is it selfish to donate them? It's also a good example for kids that is tangible. Kids don't readily understand monetary donations like they do food donations. There is room for all kinds of donations.
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Deleted
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Jun 2, 2024 12:41:03 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 13, 2016 3:03:48 GMT
I can see a lot of logic in this. Our church had a tiny food cabinet. When I took it over, I made lists of what people could donate. Getting someone else's stray bottle of hot sauce and tub of frosting don't help anything, but that's the kind of junk people would donate so they wouldn't throw it away. I came up with "meals" and then said, "donate spaghetti sauce and noodles or peanut butter, bread, and jelly," Etc. I kept milk and butter and bread in the freezer so if someone called or came by, I could pull perishables outpf the freezer, things that actually went together, and then hand it all over.
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Post by anonrefugee on Dec 13, 2016 4:38:16 GMT
I was the coordinator of our local food pantry for a few years. It was housed in the kitchen of a local church. Food donations were vital to its success. The local cub scout pack holds an annual food drive every November (and the post office every May) and there is a team of volunteers sorting and putting away the donated food. We always have one table for expired or opened food which need to be discarded but we have about 10 other tables filled with usable, much needed food items that sustain the pantry for months. We were also able to purchase food through our county food bank at a great discount but we never knew from week to week what would be available to purchase, We could always get shelf stable milk and some kind of protein - usually chicken and/or eggs- but the rest of it was hit or miss. So, in order to give our clients the variety of food items necessary to meet government guidelines, we had to depend on food donations. Monetary donations paid for those food bank purchases as well as gift cards we kept on hand for very needy families or emergencies. Basically, in my experience, both donated food and money were necessary to keep the place functioning effectively. My neighbor is operations manager for a large food bank. She also says there's a place and reason for both types of collections. In-kind donations help raise the profile of the Food Bank, and the cause, in our area where it's easy tor some to overlook those in need. There are still some who deny there's a need in our town. It's also easier for some to donate a can of food from their pantry than to find extra cash. This food bank discourages any type of student competitions. Hunger is often silent, and it's wrong to pressure kids who might be in that situation but their teachers and peers don't know. Our elementary school had stopped keeping individual classroom tallies, or awarding classes because of this. I appreciate the reasoning /reality behind the article, but I'm growing tired of rants and superiority about "my charitable act is better than your charitable act, you're doing it wrong, this is better". (Not quoting him, just a global paraphrasing). Thoughtful giving should always be a goal, but there's not a one size fits all solution. When there are too many complaints I feel like people start withholding small acts, and that's a shame.
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Post by anonrefugee on Dec 13, 2016 4:53:32 GMT
We have a good friend who runs a small food bank. All of what you posted has been lamented by him when we are together, especially around the holidays. Schools/PTA's are the worst...kids in school like to SEE the items pile up in contests run in classrooms, one room against another or one grade against another. They don't see money in a check so the processed foods pile up. You should hear what he gets. Expired sweetened condensed milk. Pistachio pudding. A good book to read is Toxic Charity by Robert Lupton. I agree. At our work, they just finished up a holiday canned food drive and someone put in 18 boxes of flan. Oh and jars of specialty salsa from some food basket they received. I volunteer at two different food pantries and they appreciate these specialty items. They both operate on a grocery store model where clients "shop" the shelves for extras after receiving the basics. No one is pretending these are the goods providing major nutrition, but they can be the spice of life (no pun) that can add a spark to a bleak situation. A local specialty grocery donates a huge amount of these goods and they're very popular.
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Post by melanell on Dec 13, 2016 5:02:50 GMT
I volunteered at a local food bank for almost a year before my work schedule changed. In the summer, and right after Christmas the food pantry was almost completely empty. Why? Because no one was holding food drives then and no one was thinking about dropping off donations on their own either at those times. I saw an article about a city not too far from us that experienced this issue. They explained how desperate they were for donations because the families in that area needed the food more in the summer than any other time because their kids were home for all 3 meals. The article had photos of actual bare shelves in the food bank. It was sad. I think of the summer as a time to plan a million fun things. Other parents think of the summer as a time to figure out how to feed hungry kids. Save
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Post by melanell on Dec 13, 2016 5:06:17 GMT
I appreciate the reasoning /reality behind the article, but I'm growing tired of rants and superiority about "my charitable act is better than your charitable act, you're doing it wrong, this is better". (Not quoting him, just a global paraphrasing). Thoughtful giving should always be a goal, but there's not a one size fits all solution. When there are too many complaints I feel like people start withholding small acts, and that's a shame. I agree. And based on this small thread alone, we've seen that the article doesn't match reality for all food banks. I'd hate to see any of the donation only based banks suffer because articles like this are making their way around. I think the real moral of the story here is to take an extra 5 minutes out of your day and call your local food bank(s) and ask them what is most helpful for them. Then you can see if what you're already doing is the most help you can give or if there is anything that you might be able to change for the better. Save
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Post by melanell on Dec 13, 2016 5:11:26 GMT
I recall once, when I was bringing donations to the fitness center I was using at the time, that they had posted a wish list from the particular food bank.
We laughed about the juxtaposition of this list being at a gym, because it had a lot of the special "extras" on it. Things like chips, cookie mixes, snack packs for kids, etc. The bank was actively trying to up the number of donations of that type.
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Post by auntkelly on Dec 13, 2016 6:38:44 GMT
I volunteered at several different locations for a large regional food bank.
Pretty much any boxed or canned food items which were not expired were put on the shelves and distributed to those in need.
I think it's great when people do whatever they can to help the needy, whether it's writing a check to the food bank or donating food items.
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cycworker
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Posts: 4,376
Jun 26, 2014 0:42:38 GMT
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Post by cycworker on Dec 13, 2016 7:54:52 GMT
Our local food bank has a main depot & then does distribution at various churches. So, for example, you can come to my church on Monday afternoon, or the main food bank Monday afternoon, or Tuesday is another church... etc.
It's all computerized. They allow you to come to one depot per week, and because of the computer system they can ensure folks don't come to different places every day.
The main location has a warehouse with many volunteers who ensure that each location gets a good variety of foods. You won't get shortchanged in terms of options for bread, or the various non perishables, or what have you, based on where you go.
And we have a great program called Food 4U. The food bank is able to pick up from grocery stores & take food that is too close to the "best before" date to sell. Things like yogurt, cheese, etc. They will also take food that is rejected on delivery because some of it has been damaged or partially spoiled. So, say there is a package of strawberries with one or two mouldy or bruised.... they'll go through those (these vols all have food safe & it's all sanitary) and make new packages. Some of that food will go to things like a school breakfast program, because it will be used the next day. They do the picks every day & it gets sent out that same day.
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theshyone
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Post by theshyone on Dec 13, 2016 10:20:54 GMT
Our local food bank, often up dates their FB page that X,y, z is running low, or please donate Cach.
We've volunteered often sorting stuff that comes in, it's hard to figure out can dates to find out if expired. My old lady eyes just can't see those numbers that small.
We had a work contest on a peanut butter poundage collection between departments. Engineering, against drafting, against office, against management. Then whoever came to our open house was invited to donate. It was boxes and boxes and boxes of the jars. And lots of Cach, the guests donates cash.
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Dec 13, 2016 10:23:07 GMT
We have a good friend who runs a small food bank. All of what you posted has been lamented by him when we are together, especially around the holidays. Schools/PTA's are the worst...kids in school like to SEE the items pile up in contests run in classrooms, one room against another or one grade against another. They don't see money in a check so the processed foods pile up. You should hear what he gets. Expired sweetened condensed milk. Pistachio pudding. A good book to read is Toxic Charity by Robert Lupton. I have worked with food banks for years and a significant amount of donated goods are expired, damaged, or of very poor quality. The worst experience ever was when a large Christian denomination asked its members statewide to donate OTC medications and toiletries. Over 75% of donations were expired, half empty or damaged. And it cost the food bank because every item had to be examined, then 75% destroyed. It was not a win. It was also discouraging to realize what Christians thought the poor deserved -- opened, expired medications and half-used tubes of toothpaste. That's heartbreaking. That's why every person donating should ask. "Would I want this given to my child?" If you can't immediately and surely answer "yes," then please don't donate it.
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theshyone
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Post by theshyone on Dec 13, 2016 10:24:09 GMT
Why on earth would diapers and toiletries get wasted? They don't expire. There's a huge need. What the heck? Because there has to be some sort of infrastructure to sort and distribute donations of material items. Without money there is no infrastructure. Distribution over such a wide geographical area, is a very hard thing to do. We we found it easier, that when a need on the page was posted, to drive, pickup the person, let them pick, and then just pay. Many goods ended up north of Edmonton when many people were south and further south of Edmonton. Same me thing with the overland flood in 2013.
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Kerri W
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Posts: 3,772
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Jun 25, 2014 20:31:44 GMT
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Post by Kerri W on Dec 13, 2016 11:40:09 GMT
I appreciate the reasoning /reality behind the article, but I'm growing tired of rants and superiority about "my charitable act is better than your charitable act, you're doing it wrong, this is better". (Not quoting him, just a global paraphrasing). Thoughtful giving should always be a goal, but there's not a one size fits all solution. When there are too many complaints I feel like people start withholding small acts, and that's a shame. I agree. And based on this small thread alone, we've seen that the article doesn't match reality for all food banks. I'd hate to see any of the donation only based banks suffer because articles like this are making their way around. I think the real moral of the story here is to take an extra 5 minutes out of your day and call your local food bank(s) and ask them what is most helpful for them. Then you can see if what you're already doing is the most help you can give or if there is anything that you might be able to change for the better. SaveYes. And yet even in this thread we have the thought of "if they have specific needs, why don't they say that?" and the attitude of "I'm going to give what makes me feel good whether that's what's needed or not." Kind of damned if you do, damned if you don't from both sides. If this is the type of cause you'd like to support, I ask that you inquire a little bit about the organization. A 5 minute phone call. While your money will probably never be a waste, it may be a really huge blessing directed in a slightly different manner. I'm always amazed when the liaison between our organization and the families participating shares with us because she has ideas that I never would have thought about-like no can openers. That was such a duh moment for me. A can opener is not a priority when you're homeless or trying to meet your most basic needs. I just never stopped to think fully through the situation.
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Post by papercrafteradvocate on Dec 13, 2016 12:02:25 GMT
Here, $$$ goes farther by allowing the Food Bank to buy bulk.
They have a card that explains how far $$$ go,
Like: $1 buys 5 cans of tuna $5 buys 8 jars of peanut butter $10 buys produce for a week for 5
Etc.
Now our St Vincent DePaul can actually use food stuff donations because they can shop their storage in a moments notice for a person or family in need RIGHT THIS SECOND.
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SabrinaP
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Busy Teacher Pea
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Jun 26, 2014 12:16:22 GMT
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Post by SabrinaP on Dec 13, 2016 12:15:17 GMT
My local food bank has posted something similar. They can buy most canned goods for around 10 cents a can. However, I know In my school district the school board does not alllowed us to collect money, no penny drives, nothing. So we either collect canned goods or the food pantry in town would get nothing.
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Post by baslp on Dec 13, 2016 12:50:19 GMT
This article was very informative IMO. Thanks for sharing.
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Post by melanell on Dec 13, 2016 13:16:52 GMT
I agree. And based on this small thread alone, we've seen that the article doesn't match reality for all food banks. I'd hate to see any of the donation only based banks suffer because articles like this are making their way around. I think the real moral of the story here is to take an extra 5 minutes out of your day and call your local food bank(s) and ask them what is most helpful for them. Then you can see if what you're already doing is the most help you can give or if there is anything that you might be able to change for the better. SaveYes. And yet even in this thread we have the thought of "if they have specific needs, why don't they say that?" and the attitude of "I'm going to give what makes me feel good whether that's what's needed or not." Kind of damned if you do, damned if you don't from both sides. If this is the type of cause you'd like to support, I ask that you inquire a little bit about the organization. A 5 minute phone call. While your money will probably never be a waste, it may be a really huge blessing directed in a slightly different manner. I'm always amazed when the liaison between our organization and the families participating shares with us because she has ideas that I never would have thought about-like no can openers. That was such a duh moment for me. A can opener is not a priority when you're homeless or trying to meet your most basic needs. I just never stopped to think fully through the situation. Makes me think I ought to ask the local food bank if they could use donations of manual can openers. Save
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Post by Florida Cindy on Dec 13, 2016 13:20:37 GMT
Our county does a giant food donation drive every December. They even give out bags (in the mailbox) to put the canned food in. Maybe they should hand out donation envelopes instead... I volunteer at a food bank. More people donate items than cash.
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Post by Florida Cindy on Dec 13, 2016 13:30:51 GMT
I volunteer at my local community-based food pantry. We are able to purchase food items via "Feeding America" at something like 16 cents per pound. They offer lots of snack items from companies like Kraft/Nabisco who are always coming out with new varieties and have excess inventory. They also offer plentiful amounts of certain varieties of cereal/pasta/rice/juice/crackers, but they are often the same, month after month. We also take donations from canned food drives, including the one held by the U.S. post office. Yes, there's way too much cranberry sauce and not enough hearty soups/stews/canned meat. There's often expired stuff that makes me shake my head. It definitely is a pain to sort through it all and get it on our shelves, trying to figure out which category fits certain items. HOWEVER, our "shoppers" LOVE the variety of items that are brought in by local food drives. It gives them great joy to find something different on the shelf - a certain variety of soup, a special ethnic item, or superhero-themed fruit snacks. Our families are already hurting when they walk in the door. If the variety provided by these food drives can help to lift their spirits, I'm happy to sort it. Go ahead and keep on giving. I also volunteer at a food bank. We get food from Feeding America, although a S. Florida branch of Feeding America. We also get food from a gigantic food bank in our county. We get fresh vegetables, meat, eggs, ect.......Then, we also get food from USDA. It's never enough. We rely on donations from Stamp Out Hunger, held by the US Postal Service. We have to sort through items to see if they are expired, dented, rusted, ect........ It gives some of our developmentally challenged volunteers a task they can do. We also have volunteers through our school system as HS students need to obtain community service hours. Occasionally, we will get a donation through a business or residence. Everything is scrutinized. My quoted poster is correct. People love the variety of food they receive. We also have to consider the people we give food to for our monthly program. Seniors rarely cook a full meal of a large chicken. We save large protein items for families. Ready to eat meals or one minute microwave meals are better for seniors, as long as they are supplemented with fresh veggies, fruit and healthy bread. We love donations of rice and beans. In South Florida, we have a large Hispanic population. Rice and beans are much needed staples. Peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower butter.........all are welcome at food banks.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Dec 13, 2016 15:36:58 GMT
I was on the board of a tri-county food bank for about 7 years. It was a major supplier to smaller church and community pantries. The vast majority of food was donated from major grocery chains. Walmart, Kroger etc donated in bulk on a weekly basis. A local dairy supplied all the milk we needed by doing a separate run just for us once a week. Local farmers donated fruits and vegetables - those were by far the toughest to deal with. They'd show up with a truck of apples or onions. While we appreciated the sentiment, it's extremely difficult to distribute those bulk perishables before they spoiled. But those relationships were vital to maximizing the purchasing power of any monetary donations. I was astonished when I learned just how much food was distributed with a very, very lean cost structure. As previous posters mentioned, Feeding Families allows bulk purchasing which was used to fill holes - almost always PEANUT BUTTER!!! All that being said, we never discouraged food drives. Yes sometimes we shook our heads a bit at the person showing up with a bag from Whole Foods where they spent $25 on food where the food bank could have purchased 100x the amount of food. But the reality is those food drives provide a huge source of potential volunteers and cash donors. Frankly volunteers are as vital to these organizations as cash. Probably 80% of the regular volunteers became aware of the organization through a food drive. While there are a few bad apples, the vast majority of people are donating usable food and it's distributed. It's just one more element to a successfully run food bank, and an important one. If you have any doubt about participating, go buy some peanut butter. Seriously, there is not a food bank in the country that will not appreciate that donation.
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Post by anonrefugee on Dec 13, 2016 18:40:10 GMT
I agree. And based on this small thread alone, we've seen that the article doesn't match reality for all food banks. I'd hate to see any of the donation only based banks suffer because articles like this are making their way around. I think the real moral of the story here is to take an extra 5 minutes out of your day and call your local food bank(s) and ask them what is most helpful for them. Then you can see if what you're already doing is the most help you can give or if there is anything that you might be able to change for the better. SaveYes. And yet even in this thread we have the thought of "if they have specific needs, why don't they say that?" and the attitude of "I'm going to give what makes me feel good whether that's what's needed or not." Kind of damned if you do, damned if you don't from both sides. If this is the type of cause you'd like to support, I ask that you inquire a little bit about the organization. A 5 minute phone call. While your money will probably never be a waste, it may be a really huge blessing directed in a slightly different manner. I'm always amazed when the liaison between our organization and the families participating shares with us because she has ideas that I never would have thought about-like no can openers. That was such a duh moment for me. A can opener is not a priority when you're homeless or trying to meet your most basic needs. I just never stopped to think fully through the situation. We had a drive like that once, combined with request for small portion containers because of lack of refrigeration.
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Post by apeacalledliz on Dec 13, 2016 19:11:09 GMT
anytime we have donated to "canned" food drives for the kids school or whatnot I always tried to donate things that would make an actual meal. Something like a box of spaghetti, a decent jar of sauce, some shaker cheese(aka Parmesan cheese), a small jar of garlic, some spices and a box of biscuit mix(not rolls but it's the most shelf stable). Or breakfast stuff, canned fruit in natural juices, box of pancake mix that only requires milk, a box of dry milk or a box of that shelf stable milk, small bottle of oil, small bottle of pancake syrup, bottle of juice. I would prefer to donate money and do when I can but when my kids were super excited about doing something good for people I thought it best to allow them to do that while trying to make sure it was actually done in a way that would be as helpful as possible.
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