Food Bank Donations

DianaMattos

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I am looking for some advice.

Have any of you used food banks? I donate to one, but would like to make sure that I am donating things that people actually want, rather than what I think they want.

I usually put some pasta, packet pasta meals,baked beans, tinned fruit and tinned soup in. Is that ok, or are there other things that are preferred?

Thanks in advance x

thriftmonster

Our foodbank has both a website and a FB page where they list what they take. They also put a list of most needed items most weeks. Ours takes cleaning stuff, nappies and toiletries as well.

Upsidedown_Bear

Depends who is running the foodbank but the Trussell Trust have this list:
http://www.trusselltrust.org/resources/documents/foodbank/website-shopping-list.pdf

gayle1

tinned potatoes tinned meat volunteered a few times

michelle2008

Can't answer but have often wondered the same thing. I tend to donate nappies, wipes, tinned spaghetti and tinned soup (always vegetable?).

Not very imaginative! I figure not too many people donate nappies - but then not sure they are really needed.

HappyMJ

No more soup please...that's what my local food bank says to me. They are overloaded with the stuff....and it requires the homeless person to have cooking facilities of which many don't so they turn it down.

They want tinned meat (spam or similar) which can be opened without a tool, sliced (or not) and eaten cold. It's also got plenty of calories in it which is very handy. Vegetable soup hardly has any calories although it's nutritious.

lindsaygalaxy

I often donate sanitary towels and tampons. As a women it must be awful to not have them especially of it is a choice between food or them.

McKneff

I help out with a food bank every now and again at a supermarket.
I would hold back on the pasta a bit, everybody buys pasta cos its cheap.
We have mountains of the stuff....

michelle2008

Thank you - I will stop the vegetable soup!! Wouldn't have thought of tampons - but ofcourse families would need the. Great idea.

sparrer

lindsaygalaxy wrote: »

I often donate sanitary towels and tampons. As a women it must be awful to not have them especially of it is a choice between food or them.

I donate towels, tampons and pantie liners too. I also put a couple of tines of dog or cat food in, I was in dire straits once and had to rehome my dog so I know what it feels like to lose a pet through no fault of your own.

Cyberman60

Food banks need to check that only destitute people are using them. Unfortunately, they don't and many people that have no need to use them do because they love FREE food etc. This was exposed recently by a national newspaper.


I like this idea for stopping some of the ongoing fraud:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/mar/26/payment-cards-emergency-assistance-food-stamps