Foodbank Donations

custardy

For those who work with them.
I was at a local supermarket today with people collecting for a local foodbank.
They were handing out little shopping list type leaflets of what they were looking for.
founds it really handy to get things they wanted/needed than my usual buy a few tins of stuff and bung it in.

Thought it was worth sharing.

asajj

Thanks - we have an advent calendar at work. Each individual chose one day to bring something in.

Cyclamen

Our local foodbank have a facebook page and publish a 'wish list' of food items they are short of as well as a 'we have plenty of these' items.

It's really useful as sometimes they are desperate for veggies, other times they want mens razors etc...

Norman_Castle

My food bank hand out lists as you enter. It reminds you as you walk around and specifies whats needed. I leave them in the basket when finished. If I can afford beer for myself then I can afford food for someone else.

I also look for offers and avoid the top brands, mse on behalf of the food bank.

LadyDee

If people are struggling to find the money to feed themselves then please give a thought to donating a packet of pet food too. Their pet is often the most important thing in their life, especially for a person on their own.

Undervalued

OK, a money saving question here.

I have often wondered with the collection baskets you see for local foodbanks as you leave a supermarket....

Does the supermarket generally donate the profit they have just made on the item you have just bought to donate?

If not, is this not a very inefficient way of raising money? If the person donated the same amount of money as the item cost, would the foodbank not be able to buy what they need cheaper by buying in bulk at a wholesaler? Better still if the person donating filled in a gift aid form.

Maybe it is all carefully worked out and perhaps a person donating a, say, £1.43 item would only put a pound coin in a collection box?

Also, although I live in a largely prosperous city there are sadly some real areas of poverty. The amount I see in these collection baskets is frankly tiny. I know every little helps but I do wonder how the foodbanks source the bulk of their stock.

Silvertabby

LadyDee wrote: »

If people are struggling to find the money to feed themselves then please give a thought to donating a packet of pet food too. Their pet is often the most important thing in their life, especially for a person on their own.

Most of my donations are sanitary protection and cat food.

Savvy_Sue

Undervalued wrote: »

Does the supermarket generally donate the profit they have just made on the item you have just bought to donate?

If not, is this not a very inefficient way of raising money? If the person donated the same amount of money as the item cost, would the foodbank not be able to buy what they need cheaper by buying in bulk at a wholesaler? Better still if the person donating filled in a gift aid form.

Maybe it is all carefully worked out and perhaps a person donating a, say, £1.43 item would only put a pound coin in a collection box?

Also, although I live in a largely prosperous city there are sadly some real areas of poverty. The amount I see in these collection baskets is frankly tiny. I know every little helps but I do wonder how the foodbanks source the bulk of their stock.

It is not that simple (is it ever?)


Foodbanks will have multiple sources of donations, and the supermarket collections will just be one part of it. And I am not sure if the supermarket will in any sense 'match' what is donated through the collection baskets, but a) they may deliberately keep the collection baskets at a low level to encourage further giving, moving donations to a secure storage area throughout the day and b) they will almost certainly donate in other ways.


For example, unsaleable food (mis-labelled, short date, wrongly ordered, damaged packaging) may be donated through organisations such as FareShare, from where it is re-distributed to foodbanks and organisations who can make use of it - I believe all the major supermarkets are signed up to supply to them, at least in our area. (Apart from anything else, donating food in this way reduces the amount of food being sent to landfill, which reduces the amount of landfill tax due from the supermarkets.)



I can't find annual accounts quickly on my local foodbank's website, but I did quickly find a page where they listed some major grants they'd received in the last year. There was also a 'how to help' page, where donating food, money and time were all mentioned, plus fundraising for them.



Plus, there will be other food collections: I know several churches which act as collection points throughout the year, and schools may collect at particular times, eg harvest. Our local community cafe ran a reverse Advent Calendar throughout November, where instead of opening a door on a calendar, each day they were collecting particular items (although I'm sure anything was welcome on any day!) And I went to a Christmas Fair where entry was 50p or a donation to the Food Bank ...

Undervalued

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

It is not that simple (is it ever?)


Foodbanks will have multiple sources of donations, and the supermarket collections will just be one part of it. And I am not sure if the supermarket will in any sense 'match' what is donated through the collection baskets, but a) they may deliberately keep the collection baskets at a low level to encourage further giving, moving donations to a secure storage area throughout the day and b) they will almost certainly donate in other ways.


For example, unsaleable food (mis-labelled, short date, wrongly ordered, damaged packaging) may be donated through organisations such as FareShare, from where it is re-distributed to foodbanks and organisations who can make use of it - I believe all the major supermarkets are signed up to supply to them, at least in our area. (Apart from anything else, donating food in this way reduces the amount of food being sent to landfill, which reduces the amount of landfill tax due from the supermarkets.)



I can't find annual accounts quickly on my local foodbank's website, but I did quickly find a page where they listed some major grants they'd received in the last year. There was also a 'how to help' page, where donating food, money and time were all mentioned, plus fundraising for them.



Plus, there will be other food collections: I know several churches which act as collection points throughout the year, and schools may collect at particular times, eg harvest. Our local community cafe ran a reverse Advent Calendar throughout November, where instead of opening a door on a calendar, each day they were collecting particular items (although I'm sure anything was welcome on any day!) And I went to a Christmas Fair where entry was 50p or a donation to the Food Bank ...

Interesting thanks.

Assuming your local FB is a charity with a turnover of £5K or more per year, detailed accounts can be downloaded from the Charity Commission website.

Norman_Castle

Undervalued wrote: »

I have often wondered with the collection baskets you see for local foodbanks as you leave a supermarket....

Does the supermarket generally donate the profit they have just made on the item you have just bought to donate?

Tesco adds 20% of value measured by weight. https://www.trusselltrust.org/get-involved/partner-with-us/tesco/


This is a good idea. https://www.bigissue.com/latest/sainsburys-to-start-pointing-out-foodbank-essentials-to-shoppers/


Having food bank essentials close to the tills might also help, I normally only have a basket so I'm limited to how much and how far I can carry extra items.

Undervalued

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Tesco adds 20% of value measured by weight. https://www.trusselltrust.org/get-involved/partner-with-us/tesco/

That's interesting, thanks.

I would imagine 20% is somewhere close to their average markup, so effectively they are passing it on at cost price. Obviously there is no VAT involved on food. I don't know enough about the tax position to know if the FB can recover whatever tax Tesco would have paid on the 20%?