Food Bank

[ODFOx]

What we give to the Foodbank vs what the Foodbank gives out.
Of course they all follow slightly different guidelines but ours never has enough tinned meat compared to the tinned fish.
Not enough tinned veg that isn't peas.
Not enough tea or coffee.
Not enough uht milk
Not enough instant potato.
Not enough spread and crackers.
Not enough rice pudding and custard.

People are great at providing pasta and rice, beans and tomatoes( give whole not chopped please as they are more flexible), sauces. It's the other bits that sometimes get missed.

What do you prefer to give? Do you put together a meal or do you go off the list?

The local food bank here has freezers so I normally do an Iceland delivery once a month or so. I also prefer to buy the stuff others forget about ie ladies sanitary products, antiperspirant, toothpaste/brushes, soap, shower gel, nappies ect.

I give soap, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, adult and children's tooth brushes. Washing up liquid, basic cleaning materials.

How is anyone in a tough situation supposed to find the motivation to face the day, if they can't feel clean?

It wouldn’t occur to me to give tinned meat because it’s shite, to be honest. Does anyone really eat tinned ham or meatballs when they aren’t poor? If not, why would anyone want it when they were.

I don’t tend to read the “wanted” list as I’m usually mid way through a shop by the time I remember. I usually donate cereal, UHT milk and juice, tinned potatoes, sweet corn, carrots and peas, and then stuff for people who say they only have a kettle to cook with like cup soup, instant noodles and Smash.

I give (to both the food bank and the community cupboard) whatever they are asking for that week. I always include tinned meat, sugar, milk and puddings as I know they are always short on those, and as the cupboard has a fridge I donate spread, cheese and eggs (they can accept eggs from my hens).
The cupboard is a 'take what you need, leave what you can' project that also now saves food from landfill via Fareshare, so things move a bit faster than a food bank and will have random fresh food supplies so they try to have stock cubes, oil, gravy, spice/herbs etc around so people can pick things up to make an entire meal out of what there is there, so today I'm popping some crumble mix and custard tins down as they were given a huge amount of apples yesterday

Cereal jam peanut butter the big packs of 4 orange and apple juices crisps biscuits rice cous cous deodorant pads chocolate porridge cooking sauces and nappies pull-ups

I’ve given soup fizzy drinks crackers part baked bread

I look at the fb page of my local one, as they usually have an up to date list of what they need.

Our local morrisons had bags of stuff as you walk in that you could add to your trolly for the food bank. So I picked a bag worth about a pound, paid for it with my shopping and then popped it in the food bank trolly. Really good idea and so easy.

I really admire the community spirit in giving to food banks. Dh donates online.

@ComtesseDeSpair

It wouldn’t occur to me to give tinned meat because it’s shite, to be honest. Does anyone really eat tinned ham or meatballs when they aren’t poor? If not, why would anyone want it when they were.

I don’t tend to read the “wanted” list as I’m usually mid way through a shop by the time I remember. I usually donate cereal, UHT milk and juice, tinned potatoes, sweet corn, carrots and peas, and then stuff for people who say they only have a kettle to cook with like cup soup, instant noodles and Smash.

Because meat is a good source of protein and tinned ham in a sandwich is no better or worse than fresh? Pasta and tomato sauce is good but a tin of bolognese rings the changes. A single Tinned curry served with rice bulked with tinned kidney beans can feed 2 adults. Corned beef is as good tinned as fresh and can make a lovely coddle with tinned veg and potatoes. It's on the Foodbank list because people do like it. Hot dog sausages are a perennial favourite: people ask for this stuff!

Other meats that go down well: meat puddings and pies ( yes, tinned); pepperoni type sausages ( bought from the fridge but don't require refrigeration) also smoked pork sausage ( also doesn't require refrigeration) ; meat spreads and pates in jars. Tinned meatballs, burgers in gravy, chicken roll, stewed beef, chicken in white sauce. We also used to buy sliced beef in gravy in a tin which the older clients loved but I haven't seen it since the beginning of the summer.

I second the Morrison’s prepackaged bags. Such an excellent idea. In August I picked up a bag and when it was scanned there were items for a school child - protractor set and pens. It wouldn’t have crossed my mind to buy these things but I can see how a struggling family would not be able to buy their child these essentials. I have also picked a bag with Men’s deodorant and a toothbrush. If buying off the shelves I try to put in protein and some carbs and then veggies. I often buy instant mash as I remember someone saying people can sometimes have very few cooking facilities and to make instant mash you only need a jug and a kettle.

I tend to double up on the non-perishables I’m buying for our household, so say into the trolley goes 2 packs of soap instead of one, 2 bags of sugar and so on, and then put the extra packs in the food bank box.

The wanted list in our local supermarket is almost always the same generic one, it’s unusual to see a note saying that they’re particularly short of tinned meat etc.

I tend to do the rice pudding and biscuits.
Hadn't thought about instant mash so will def give that.
I try and look on the Facebook page and see what they are short of.

I'm vegetarian so I tend to donate tins of:

veggie mince bolognese
vegetable curry
macaroni cheese
vegetarian beans & sausages
mixed bean chilli

Also instant mash, micro rice, gravy, carrots, sweetcorn, noodles etc.

In the lead up to school holidays I try to put jars of peanut butter, jam & chocolate spread in with crackers & snack bars.

I do check the wanted list when I think to but if I'm just shopping I put a few of the above in.

I check on their website to see the list of what they are short of any buy that.

We run a local Hygiene Bank because hygiene products often get stopped before food.

thehygienebank.com/

I try and buy thing that everyone likes. But I might change that. Do people get choice in what’s in their pack? I’d find it hard to eat some of the things mentioned above, which would just add to the shitness of the situation. But then on the other hand I can see that if you actually like tinned curry, say, it would be good to have it.

I work with a hygiene bank, and we get loads of personal hygiene stuff like shampoo, soap, shower gel etc. We get less toothpaste, almost no toothbrushes, and almost never get any house products. We did get some antibac spray in recently and one client nearly cried because she hadn't been able to clean her house in a pandemic.

We give all sorts of stuff
My mums friend volunteers and says as a lot of people are maybe in temporary accommodation and perhaps only have a microwave tinned meals are good like big soups, beans and sausage, macaroni cheese, tinned meats etc rather than ingredients like pasta and chopped tomatoes as some people don't have hobs or cookers; However all donations are welcome. My neighbour sends them different stuff each month so one month a tray of beans, next month shower gels and just buys 12 of whatever (I do a mix) and we take it in turns to take it.

We also both work in places where at Christmas we end up with tonnes of biscuits and sweets at Christmas and so I send a good majority of them too so that there's some treats for people too.

I send sanitary protection tho and nappies in various sizes - I took my 4 year old with me just before lockdown and the volunteers showed her round and it was lovely and made her appreciate things more.

Like other have said, I tend to try and give what others tend to forget:

Shower gel/soap
Kids toiletries
Nappies
Washing up liquid
loo roll
bags of sugar
Around Christmas time (which tbh is when I give most) I add some treats like biscuits, chocs and nicer long life fruit juice.
I've bought formula last year but they don't accept it at my local one, I ended up giving it to a lady on Facebook that couldn't find any at the start of lockdown.