Foodbanks

[Flatasapancakenow]

I have only just started donating to our local foodbank, I really had no idea what type of stuff to get, so I just got some extra of the tinned and dry stuff I was buying for mysellf.

Does anyone have experience of volunteering or working in a foodbank, and can you give me some advice?

Can you take toiletries too? Things like shampoo and face cream?
Is there certain food items you get loads of and some you're in desperate need of? For example do you get loads of tinned tomatoes but no olive oil?
What about longer life fresh foods like potatoes?
Are there any one or two items in particular foodbanks really need?
Is there anything that I definitely should not donate that will just get thrown out?

Thanks

A question for those who work at food banks. We'd like to give more as a family but really want to give what is needed most. We wondered about giving a supermarket gift card every month so they could buy whatever was needed at that particular time. Would a food bank have someone who could go shopping for them?

I'm joust curious since they don't come across as essential. How do you explain cream being essential?

It isn't just about the essentials, it's about making people's lives better, showing them some kindness and making them feel valued. I don't understand why you can't see that. It seems mean-spirited to insist that only the very essential things should be given, especially when the donations are handed in by the public and the charity isn't buying the supplies.

My partner and I are both in travel industry and have literally hundreds of unopened mini shower gels, body creams, shampoos, soaps.

I've always been reluctant incase unsuitable?

Why should people in need only be entitled to essentials? I don’t understand that. I am going to find as many “luxury” items as possible in the run-up to Christmas and hope they give somebody a little lift for a moment or two

Tiggles

Trussel I think is my local one

Dc school harvest boxes also went there I believe

Are mini toiletries in abundance any good?

MarthasGinYard hand them over! And perfect for Christmas. Anyone else advent calendars, Christmas decs and Christmas puddings.

@MarthasGinYard you have no idea how much they would be appreciated ! Please donate them 😊

Perfect

Sorting them right now

I think forwhatyouare's point might be that if someone was going to spend say £10 buying stuff to donate to the food bank, isn't it better to spend it on the essentials to get the most out of that money? But I think the OP was saying it's ok because she was thinking of donating the face cream anyway, so it's not in place of other essentials.

On a separate point, are people still doing reverse advent calendars this year?

What are reverse advent calendars please?

My friend volunteers at a food bank, they put occasional posts on their facebook group about what they need most at the moment. However, they can't give out much of what they're given because of sell by dates. She brings us loads of cat food from the food bank because even that can't be given out because it's out of date.
Lots of human food also goes home with the volunteers because of the dates, all edible but can't be distributed as out of date.

elephantoverthehill The reverse advent calendar is where you put aside a donation each day so by the end you have abox of stuff to take to the food bank.

Ours has said that they have loads of soup and beans but desperately need small jars of coffee, UHT milk and anything that can be made up using just hot water from a kettle - pot noodles, pasta pots, hot chocolate and porridge pots.

With harvest festivals coming up it's worth checking online what your local food bank needs as they all vary. I counted over 100 tins of tomato soup at DC's harvest festival last year sitting next to one solitary bag of baby leaf spinach!

I volunteer in a Food Bank & I can only reiterate that PLEASE check with your local FB about what they actually need, we get inundated with certain products yet I can see from this thread that other FBs are short of the very stuff we are drowning in, I frequently have to off-load our excess stock at supermarkets in the next town, just hoping they need more pasta/baked beans/tinned pulses etc.

Also, whilst we understand that people want to be generous at Christmas please think about making your donation in Feb or March when our donations go down. At Christmas we can actually run out of storage space.

Looking4wards well that sounds like a great idea but when does the advent calendar stop? If it is on Christmas Eve people will miss out, there will not be people to sort and deliver it.

@Ragwort I'm sure I read something recently that food banks would also welcome donations of tin openers - is that the case? Would happily add a couple to the shopping list if they'd help.

Yes, can openers are appreciated, a great idea.

Many reverse calendars are delivered a few days before Christmas, or if you don't put in especially seasonal items they can be delivered after Christmas. And as I stated earlier, many FBs will be overwhelmed with donations at Christmas- we were giving out Christmas puds for six months & being perfectly honest, very few of our clients really wanted a Christmas pud.

I always do a reverse advent calendar with the kids through November so can donate beginning of December
We always make sure we put some gluten free stuff in it. Mainly nice Biscuits amd things rather than specifically Christmas things so can be used afterwards. But often a small Christmas cake and tiny puddings.
And yes if you have small toiletries you don't want please donate them!

they get stupid things donated like cook-in sauces which are obviously no use to someone who can’t afford to put the oven on.

I know someone has already commented but you can heat it up in a microwave. Many have hobs too to cook pasta.

Things like sauces I think are quite nice. When you're poor you eat lots of pasta and carbs so protein is good, like tinned tuna or chicken curry.

I'm suprised about the tampon comment and noone wanting them.

Marcie as others have said different Food Banks have different needs so it really is important to get in touch with your local Food Bank to find out what they need. Since all the news about 'period poverty' we have been overwhelmed with sanitary products, far more than we can realistically distribute. Even when we put lists up we still tend to get the same type of donations- endless pasta & tinned tomatoes.

@marciebluebell I think it’s our area - we have a lot of women from Muslim backgrounds or who are immigrants and it’s not in their culture to use tampons. We also get women who’ve recently given birth who need pads for obvious reasons, as well as young teens often preferring them. Other Foodbanks may need tampons though so please check locally.

Oh and I would definitely reiterate the comment that we need most donations in March/April. At this time of year we will get lots of harvest festival donations and then lots more at Christmas - which is great but we can struggle to store stuff.

The person asking about a supermarket gift card - why not just make a donation? The Foodbank can then probably claim gift aid and use it to buy whatever they need.

DD says if unopened the Play face cream would be fine.
Do think about donating small tins of fruit, veg etc because some food bank users are single and large sizes are not always appropriate, especially if they don't have fridge.

Olay, not Play