"Food Bank" plea for local festival staff, AIBU?

[bluesandtwo]

A local village has an artsy festival every year, concerts/events etc. I'm not entirely sure how it's funded but tickets for events aren't especially cheap, the organisers are also frequently asking for donations to the festival committee etc. It's unclear whether the festival is intended to turn a profit, or if the organisers take any money from the proceeds.

The festival relies on people getting volunteering to help set up the events, fair enough.

However, the organisers have posted this on social media with the following image :

"FESTIVAL FOOD BANK PLEA!!!

Dear lovely festival goers,
We have got a very eager and willing crew who are all trained up and ready to help to give us all a fabulous festival ‘18. To keep them fed and hydrated., we have a crew kitchen this year. We would so appreciate any donations to keep them going. Examples of this could be...
Cereal, Jam, Crisps, Butter, Cheese, Fruit, Biscuits, Ketchup, Home baking, diluting juice, Tins Tuna, anything else that’s edible.
If you could, please could you drop any offerings into the Festival marquee or outside any time during the festival.
Thankyou so much in advance. Couldn’t do it without you! 😜"

Is it just me, or is this in very poor taste? The number of genuine food banks is still on the rise, and they are begging for free food to feed the unpaid staff at their posh festival?

Describing donated food for their volunteers a 'food bank' does leave a bit of a nasty taste in my mouth, yes.

You left the address on your post, you might want to get that edited if you don't want the particular festival to be viable.

I agree it needs to be transparent, is the festival making a profit or not? Also the organisers should be feeding the volunteers as a minimum as a thank you. Unless they are a charity or entirely non-profit social enterprise, then it is very cheeky to ask for food donations.

That’s so weird!

Good God

To go to a genuine food bank you need a referral voucher. This is just asking people to feed staff volonteers. Bizarre.

*festival to be indentifiable!

This is not a foodbank! Volunteers should be able to bring a packed lunch, its not rocket science.

YANBU! That's a really cheeky request. Not sure how the organisers can possibly think this is ok.

Post your question - how is the festival funded and is it not for profit?
Also - Ketchup??

Yes, I think it is in poor taste to nick the name 'Food Bank' and apply it to something else.

And if they 'couldn't d it without you' they r ally do need to be thinking more carefully about how either they recruit their volunteers, making it clear they need to bring their own pack ups, or they need to look again at their budgeting so they can provide volunteers with at least a voucher they can use in the concessions on site, plus unlimited water.

If all the crew are volunteers then I wouldn’t have an issue with people donating food to help feed them. However the choice of wording is very poor.

What a cheek!

That’s weird and wrong.

The entry fee should cover things like this. The festival organisers are making a mint somewhere

That’s boiled my piss. Either they bring their own food - I’ve volunteered in loads of places from law clinics to village fetes to the CAB; I didn’t expect them to feed me - or the festival pays for them to have sarnies and squash. Calling it a ‘food bank’ is crass and revolting and I’d be withdrawing my support.

Bloody hell what absolute Cheeky Fuckery of the highest order.

thats terrible. Nobody wants to use a foodbank. These people have a choice.

this is really poor taste

if they are only just covering costs then they should have charged more or not set the damn thing up. There are so many weird events going on.

I have volunteered in a few places and I have heard that conditions are getting worse, but that's actually for charity. If this is private profit making event, it's even more weird.

I would be happy to donate fresh fruit, a packet if biscuits and a bottle of squash but cereal, jam, home baking it's an odd mix of food. When I volunteer I get tea, coffee and biscuits, if I was there all day I'd take my own food plus if you volunteer you get to,see the events for free. It's a bit cheeky, I wonder who it came from.

Very weird! I've volunteered (albeit for charities) at all day events and would take my own packed lunch, or there have been leftovers for volunteers or biscuits/snacks earmarked for us, sometimes provided by the companies sponsoring the event. Some of the things they are asking for sound odd as well - tins of tuna for example.

Worded very badly.

Terrible and tbh if I was volunteering and discovered that the lunch I was promised consisted of a random assortment of donations I'd have several reasons to regret not just buying my own sandwich.

That bloody awful clip art picture has annoyed me, too. And why ketchup? Are they going to squeeze it on top of the old food bank staple, pasta and/or rice?

Cheeky Fuckers alert 🚨 crass and ridiculous to ask for food when the volunteers could surely provide their own food or the organisation, if profiting from the event, give them £5.00 or so to get food.

That's insulting to people who use food banks in times of crisis.

actually also now wondering what the festival is planning to do in terms of food sales.....