Food bank donation -"something to make our clients smile"

[shuffleofftobuffalo]

This is on the list from the food bank my DD's school is working with for harvest festival - what sort of items do you think it means? Love the idea of putting something treat-y in addition to the food we'll donate.

I always add to what my local food bank asks for:
M&S biscuits. Boxes of
Tampax (proper ones - the cheap ones can be god awful)
Advent calendars at Christmas. Apparently they get quite a lot donated in January but ..no
Terrys Chocolate Orange. The coop still occasionally do them for a quid. I stock up
Decent moisturiser
Decent deodorant
Nutella
Easter Eggs (before Easter!)
Mince pies / Christmas puddings (obs pre Christmas)
Jammy Dodgers
M&S chicken in white sauce (it’s tinned but really good)
Starbucks coffee sachets
Decent loo roll
Really good quality baby food
Microwave rice (honestly because I can’t cook the bagged stuff myself!)

sweeties,decent skincare products,decent haircare products,halloween dress up for kids, socks,gloves, decent voffee, propa tea bags

Things that make sad food happier. Spices like garam masala are great. As PP said, spreads you can add to different things. Store cupboard things that are expensive to stock up if you've had to leave somewhere quickly. Condiments and flavourings like vanilla. Stock powder or cubes.

You can happily eat rice, and lentils and porridge if you have a fully stocked store cupboard so they are different every meal but it's awful without anything to flavour them.

Also, walk around the supermarket. Anything you think "oooooo" about, buy it!

Conditioner. I could wash my hair with shower gel but would be miserable without conditioner and it's probably something people forget

Also with it coming up to Christmas if anyone gets body lotion, toiletry gift packs, stuff out of beauty advent calendars, perfumes, samples etc you can donate them

@sashh re meat paste/spread - for us in London that is less versatile as we have a lot of non meat eaters for religious reasons, so we tend not to ask for meat on our core list. But conversely tinned meat - corned beef, tinned stews etc are very popular with those who do eat meat, so I think they would make a good treat. When I was last doing a collection at Sainsburys there were some really good looking own brand tinned chili con carne and tinned curries which someone donated and I made a mental note that they looked really good for when I am buying to donate.

We used to do the same thing for harvest assembly in school. The food parcels used to go to the local elderly people so I used to tell the children if they were going shopping for it with their family to buy a treat like some nice biscuits. We thought that would be enjoyed possibly better than an out of date tin of chick peas from the back of the cupboard!Funnily enough the most popular 'treat' was bags of sweets and toffees but this was before protein bars were more available and for a different generation.

@HerculesMulligannn

Do you ever need tin openers? It's something I wonder about because it's not easy to open a tin without one. I'm assuming you check.

That’s a good question. I think it’s a mixture of people saying they don’t have a tin opener and the volunteers pointing out that it’s a tin that needs one. Fortunately so many tins are ring pull these days. A big part of the Foodbank service is agency/choice, so people choose what they want from different sections, they are not just given a random bag and told here you are. So hopefully that’s not a big mismatch.

off topic and I know it doesn’t sound like a treat, but I tell you what we also love - bags for life. If you are donating some things they are always appreciated - if they come in a bag for life they are even more appreciated. We only have fairly flimsy bags to put food in. A lot of our clients have good bags and wheely trolleys, but for many of our clients, if you cannot afford food, it follows that you do not have the extra to spend on a sturdy carrier bag for the food you cannot afford.

I stress that different Foodbanks have different needs, demographics, pinch points, ways of doing things etc. This is just a view of what happens in ours.

Thank you so much for all the ideas! I feel like I can put together a really useful donation now.

Genuinely it was a bit of a mystery to me, also I'm grateful to all who have shared ideas and also bits of info like tissues vs toilet roll and their experience from working with/at food banks.

And to the poster who said I'm virtue signalling - actually, no, I can't imagine being on the bones of my arse because I've never been there. I work in a job tangentially involving protecting vulnerable people and one thing I've learned in spades is that you can never, ever assume you know what someone needs/wants and so asking is always the best course of action if you want to support.

Warm stretchy gloves that fit all sizes? I know they're clothes but they're small.
Ladies impulse type body spray
Packs of small handbag sized tissues
Micellar water and cotton wool pads

Aldi sell a really nice chicken in a white wine sauce, and also a chilli con carne, both of which come in a tin that I always buy for the food bank. Carbs are relatively cheap, but protein is more expensive, so if you’re trying to stretch your budget you’re going to rely more on things like toast and pasta, so to get a protein that’s a bit like luxurious but comes out a tin would be a bit of a treat. Apparently Fray Bentos pies always go down really well also.
I love the idea of the the various spreads and advent calendars, I’m definitely going to add those!

Yes, our food bank always asks for tinned meat and veg (easier to store whatever your circumstances) so I see those as things on the regular list, rather than an ‘extra’ to make people smile

Dry shampoo (mentioned above) is a really good shout

Jam/ marmalade/ lemon curd. .

I usually buy supermarket vouchers in the lowest denomination so the recipient can choose what they would like. The gift of choice is really important and does not exclude those with dietary or cultural needs.

As somebody who had used foodbanks in the past, I was thrilled when I was given a selection box of biscuits like Foxes or Victoria

I doubt they will be given to food bank users.

I've found this thread really useful, thanks to everyone for their ideas.
I must be another person who can't tell the difference between want and need.

@Speaka

We can’t give out anything with alcohol in.

@HerculesMulligannn I don't have bags for life but when I order from Iceland things always come in bags so I have donated them to one of the food banks, and now mostly to the community shop (which does act as a food bank sometimes).

They are not as good as a bag for life but certainly sturdier than most carrier bags.

Remember that if you want to give advent calendars give them WELL in advance! It's heartbreaking to have to throw away lovely ones that come in too late.

I thought I did know, but found the advice from someone who actually works in a food bank very useful upthread. Spreads it is then, it's not something I would ever have thought of. Normally chocolate biscuits would be my choice and I always include some gluten free treats, being gluten free I always wonder about the people who need these and whether the food banks cater for them.

Those bags sound great - very thoughtful! We would be delighted to receive them!

Why on earth would you throw them away, assuming they contain something? We love getting the heavily reduced ones late on in the season just for the chocolate.

@Notmynamerightnow "Why on earth would you throw them away, assuming they contain something? We love getting the heavily reduced ones late on in the season just for the chocolate"

I should have said "disposed of"

But nothing says "You are valued and we really don't want you children to miss out on what other children get" than an out of date Advent Calendar.....

re spreads, l liked what someone said up thread about turning something that is a staple/necessity into something nicer. How good is tinned rice pudding with some nice jam 😊😊. Lemon curd a good shout also, I forgot about that. I think - again, London demographic- that marmalade might be more of an acquired taste. Jams/curd/PB also keep pretty well, so a treat several times over rather than a pack of biscuits which is gone quite quickly.