I manage a food bank. AMA

[Wetherforks]

I manage and run a food bank in a UK city. It's Saturday night and I'm bored. Happy to try and answer if anyone has any questions!

My local Morrison's still do

I really don't think it's a place for an 11 year old to work in. And he might see his friends' parents there, too - that's not fair on them.

baby banks accept it

I do the same as the OP and would echo each of her answers, I think they’re spot on. For questions re who can volunteer and in what roles, what food is suitable for donations etc I’d say the answer is always “Ask your nearest food bank” . We don’t accept baby food for example, but will take and distribute things past BB (but not UB), partner with local allotments for produce etc.

To the person who asked about seafood - no. Though tinned fish is always welcome at ours and we get through lots.

You trying to be funny, pet?

I also run a Food Bank and I would reiterate what the OP says in that all Food Banks are different and so it is always best to check with your local FB about what they can or can't accept ... our FB accepts formula, there is no 'Law' which says you can't. We don't ask for it but if we receive any we put it in the 'help yourself table'.

Howver I would agree that it is totally inappropriate for an 11 year old child to volunteer at a FB ... what exactly would they expect to be doing? We did have one situation where a young student kindly organised a collection & donated it to us but then wanted to 'observe' as the food parcels were handed out ... we advised that this was not at all appropriate.

What are the biggest challenges your food bank faces at the moment?

I put my tampax in boots donation box. I'd only used a couple then had periods just instantly stop. I couldn't bare to put them in the bin and figured if boots didn't want them then at least I'd tried.

I help at a centre that provides meals for people. We don't allow kids to volunteer. Sometimes some of the service users kick off and we've had times where some service users turn up drunk or high. Also, we don't want volunteers standing around.

Animal food - is that something that is requested ?
Cat/dog tinned/pouches
Biscuits
Small animal pellets

Toiletries , sanitary wear, nappies all essentials .
What about washing up liquid? Cleaning spray?Detergents ? Are they requested ?

I was going to donate but our local food bank only allowed drop offs in a 2 hour window on a day I wasn't available . So I took it to our local Tesco . I think now the supermarket requests it's their own products that are put there , makes sense as they know it has been stored properly .

I refer to the food bank through my job. We assess everyone's situation to make sure they are getting all the benefits they are entitled to and offer help with debts/lowering bills etc. Most are genuine but we see some people who aren't, which is difficult. How do you help people in the long term so that they might not have to use the food bank in the future?

I volunteer at a local community fridge. The aim is to reduce food waste rather than helping people on low income (it does that too but the main aim is reducing waste).
We accept things that food banks might not, past best before dates, baby formula etc.
Just thought I'd put that out there for anyone interested, it's worth checking out your local community fridge or food pantry if what you have isn't suitable for your local food bank.
We also have child volunteers with a parent or guardian present. Sadly we do also have volunteers who take the best things for themselves like a PP mentioned.

They still do this in my morrosons. It usually says toiletries on the bag. You don't get to see what's in it but I assume it's what they told Morrisons they want.

Interesting that someone else mentioned their kid - mine did a session with Beavers a good while back and was very keen on going back and helping more. I explained that teaching kids takes time and also possibly creates other issues for volunteers who are very busy. When we donated things he (in his ND way) kind of tried to ask whether he could help sort things as I gently said it wasn't a good time and ushered him out of the way so they could get on with stuff. I have been wondering since how to kind of keep the idea alive in his head, from an acts of service angle rather than only donating, as that had the biggest impact on all the kids, actually being there and mucking in. My assumption is that there's no great way to do this other than at home, until he's older. If you (or anyone else for that matter) have any ideas that are genuinely helpful for you I'd be glad to hear them.

Thank you for doing this.

I donate regularly to food banks but then seem to realise what I donate isn’t what is needed and I feel a bit foolish - I give pasta, tooth paste, tampons, shampoo, shower gel, deodorant, tooth brushes, baby bath etc. I always go with good brands - especially toothpaste: I then find out the food bank has too much of these items. So I now give cash rather than items that i suspect aren’t ever given to families.

do you include pet food in parcels? I do tend to spend more if I am buying things - but want to buy things that are needed. I hate to think of families not being able to afford to feed their pets.

Really interesting, I manage a building that's a drop off point for our local food bank (trussel trust) and they can't take certain things, we had a lot of luxury Christmas hamper items (think canned pate, caviar, anchovies, booze) and when I dropped off the donations they sent them back with me, (no complaints from my household but they should have been given to those more in need)

The Trussel Trust are similar to a franchise, I stopped donating to them ages ago especially when they were saying all food donations stayed on our local area but it transpired they were shipping food donated from our local area well outwith it. They dominated the local supermarkets for donations in our area before our local independent one came along as well. I asked to support them weekly with a donation of milk (we have a dairy farm) and they asked how far we could deliver our donation 🙄. We now support the independent food bank/larder and other independent food banks within a 20 mile radius with milk and potatoes. I also discovered our local Trussel trust only allow 3 packages per year to people struggling where our local independent one supports families for 12 weeks initially. I totally understand why foodbanks can’t accept alcohol but the rest of the things you mention would probably have been gratefully received by others struggling.

I didn’t realise you collected things other than food. How would you recommend finding your best one near you?

Also what kind of people do you tend to get coming to you? Are particular times of year better?

best and worst aspects of your job?

I’m great at finding yellow stickered bargains (baked beans, porridge oats etc) that still have a long shelf date but that are a bit scuffed so the supermarket sells them for super cheap.

Is the foodbank happy to take these items? And if yes, is it ok to leave the yellow sticker on?

I refer people to Foodbanks and am also an elected local representative. Spoke to my local Foodbank and they hate asking for Pet Food because some people have an opinion that people should get rid of their pets if they need Foodbanks. 😕. A lot of people then give their animals human food ( might be their only companion) and its high in salt etc, so I ALWAYS donate pet food to my local Foodbank. Not all do it.

I also donate stock cubes, bags of herbs/ spices which can be divided into smaller portions. Some areas get fresh veg / meat so they can make soup etc.

I also buy tinned tomatoes and pasta sauce with added herbs / Spices. We did a Foodbank challenge for a week, and lived from donated food ( obviously we paid for the food) for a week, and it was grim. We did it to raise awareness. We lived as if we had zilch in the cupboard/freezer or fridge so this is why I try and donate stuff with flavour .
I personally don't donate anything I wouldn't eat myself ( apart from tinned fish which I detest)

The food bank near me is on social media if people want a look at how products and choices are handled. Seems to be well run and their appeals are always for tins, spices and things like coffee.

https://www.instagram.com/feedthehillse14/

I donate via Ocado's "you give we give" scheme. Are you a recipient of anything from that, or do you know which food banks are?

I also round up Deliveroo for the Trussell Trust (my nearest foodbank is a Trussell, so even though this is unrestricted giving to a national, it still feels like local benefit). Does Trussell dominance ever cause confusion or problems for you? (I'm sure you really value their work, and you're all on the same side; I'm just interested in how it looks from the "inside" - having been a volunteer at a cancer support centre that was not a Maggies)

Talking about kids volunteering my ds volutenteered for his Duke of Edinburgh at 13. However that was a special group set up for roughly 15 kids and we went for 2 hours a week over 3 months on a Sunday evening when the warehouse was normally closed. The kids did sorting, packing etc and we did shifts at a supermarket which is how I got into it. Parents stayed with their kids at all times.

So depending on your local foodbank and local need (large cohort of kids doing d of e) we had it available to us, it was a great learning experience for everyone.

I must have given hundreds of pounds of baby formula to our local food bank at the Tesco collection point! What would you do with the stuff you get donated if you can’t use it?

I volunteer at a food bank in the USA where struggling families can sign up for a Birthday Box. We ask the sex and age of the birthday girl or boy and any special requests (such as color of decorations or theme such as a super hero, Disney character etc.) Those of us that do this raise money among friends/churches/local orgs and buy what is needed for a celebration for 8 people. We include decorations, paper plates, cups, cutlery, balloons, candles etc. We try and include something for goodie bags for young children. Then the food bank has a form they complete that the parent can take to a local supermarket bakery where they can choose a cake up to a certain amount (the supermarket gives them to us at 50% off).

A Catholic agency for homeless/struggling families donates Target gift cards so the family can buy a gift or two. The food bank serves our local area and also sometimes gets referrals from the local social services. The food bank does whatever the screening process is and we just put together the Birthday Boxes.

Do you do anything to help families celebrate children's birthdays?