About food banks- just a bit surprised really

[topbannana]

I have just come across a notice in the paper from church, appealing for donations for the local food bank.
Thankfully I have never had need for a food bank but I think they are a great idea and I was happy to buy extra and donate.
The list however was quite specific (understandable) but I was amazed to see requests for custard, rice pudding, biscuits and sugar. In my book these would be considered luxuries, in that if I was short on my grocery budget we would forego them.
Surely the food bank is there to supply people with emergency essentials not extras? As it goes I will simply buy loo rolls, pasta, powdered milk or something else off the list and ignore the bits I don't agree with. I don't really think I am but AIBU?

Glad to see you have unhooked your judgy pants

I'm glad this thread has raised so much awareness. I have just looked up my local food bank and donated online (as I can't get there during its opening hours as same times that I work).

Thanks for the link. I shall deliver a whoppng bag of chocolate to ours as christ on a bike I would hate to get to the point where I have to use one.
But if I did, I'd certainly need some chocolate.

Who cares if YABU or not, it's a kind gesture to donate to your local food bank and whatever you donate will help someone/family who need it.

YABVVU, hopefully you're joking just to wind people up.

Whatever else this thread has made me look up my local food bank. So not all bad.

I've got three Easter eggs of DS's that he has completely forgotten about - I can give those to my local food bank, right? They are still within date obv. I figure kids in general will be pleased to get chocolate; hope it isn't frowned upon that donations are clearly food of your own that's unwanted.

I donate tins of tuna, the usual pasta and rice.

This week I donated sanitary towels and baby wipes, if you cannot afford food, sanitary protection must be low down your list.

I remember the story my nursery friend tell that when she worked in a nursery in a very deprived areas some babies were sent there with carrier bags tied round them instead of nappies and with bottles crusted round the rims and watered down formula

TSC, that makes me want to cry. It's so wrong. So very, very wrong. As someone said earlier on the thread, we should be bitterly ashamed that people are going hungry in this day and age.

I've taken to helping out the local church, ie the Salvation Army up the road. Trumpets out for them - they are superb.

The Sally Army are very, very good at not being hyper-Christian and do special halal food parcels, vegetarian packs, and so on.

On the quiet, they also dish out clothes as well as children's necessities eg clothes, nappies, pushchairs and moses baskets wh, while donated, are always checked by professionals and in fine nick. You don't need a voucher - that is seen as demeaning - gifts are based on people asking for them.

I live in a banking area - which in London 2013 means you are very rich or very, very poor - the donations can be quite splendid, which I suppose is some (teeny) consolation for what England is now.

TheSecondComing
God - I've not thought of that before. How can I find out about something like that in my area?

Thank you to everyone who donates to your local foodbank. I've just started volunteering in ours and the stories that I've heard from the organisers are truly heartbreaking. There are more and more referrals every week

It's a disgrace that in this day & age people in the UK are starving which is why I'm doing what I can to help. A lot of families don't have proper cooking facilities & things like rice pudding, custard or biscuits can be easily served. How can a 20p tin of rice pudding be classed as a luxury? At Easter, food parcels for families with children also contained Easter eggs. A local bakery donates cakes as well as bread. OP, do you think that families shouldn't receive these cakes either?

OP, please count your blessings. How many of us are only a few paycheques away from needing the services of a foodbank.

to everyone that donates. Your kindness is unfortunately necessary and much appreciated.

Good on you, TSC.

And yes, that's shit.

Another one saying Good on ya TSC and it sucks that you have to do it.

So very glad topbananna had a change of heart.
But how very depressing anyone would think like this in the first place.
Have these times we're living in brought the worst out in some of us, or have we always been so uncompassionate?.

Ditto what everyone else is saying TSC :(

I have just found out there is a foodbank on my doorstep so thank you - I will get donating!

The Red Cross also runs some food banks........... the students where I work volunteer at one in our town every week.

I donated loads stuff when clearing my mothers house a few weeks ago to her local town........ included cleaning stuff, feminine hygiene bits etc as well as food.

a lot of the furniture /curtains/ bedding / kitchen stuff went to the furniture project that makes up "starter kits" for people that can't afford even the basics from charity shops to turn a flat into a home

as others said ........ so its still like this these days...... I remember so well having only newspaper on bare floorboards of my bedroom as a kid and sometimes only bread / jam to eat as a main meal in school holidays ( 50 years ago) .... pity we as a society have not moved on so much really.

It is also possible that foodbank clients will include elderly people who may have swallowing problems or just won't put their dentures in/have few teeth.

Xposted OP. Thank you for taking everyone's comments on board.

Our foodbank is not part of the Trussell trust, it's independent, not sure how many others are independent though.

Donating money helps too as it means that fresh fruit & veg can be included in the food parcels. We do have a local green grocer that donates as well which helps.

We donate to our local FoodBank via our Church and also collections at our local supermarket. Recently ours was highlighting things like coffee. I thought, stuff it, and bought a really nice jar. DH loves his coffee and if we needed the FoodBank he'd be back on the instant and a nice jar would really make all the difference.

Well done on having a chance of heart and I'm really chuffed to see so many people checking out the FoodBank website or finding some other local way to help people. MN really can change things if we all stand together. Imagine if we all bought just one item for a FoodBank or similar this week, that would be thousands of items

I run our local foodbank (not one of the ones where you need to get a voucher, I think that's demeaning).
Sugar is a recognised basic, staple food and is therefore not subject to VAT, like bread.

Rice pudding and custard have some wonderful qualities - ythey are high calorie which is essential if you are not properly nourished; they have calcium which is important for children and new mums; and most important of all they can be eaten cold when you have no money for the gas/electric to warm them up.

Biscuits are a luxury but surely everyone deserves a treat?

Nobody is obliged to buy any items for a foodbank and if a particular item is not to your liking just don't donate that item.

Let them eat cake!