"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?

NC'd OP here.

Obviously I'm not the only one that took umbrage with the advert, it has been deleted and re-posted with a different image and "Donations to help feed our Crew" as the title.

I think someone must have messaged them in the time I was trying to put something together. Still seems odd to me that volunteers couldn't bring a sandwich but at least they aren't using emotive terminology now.

That is beyond cheeky.

It’s poor taste.

It’s all very well people saying they’d be happy to donate xyz, but potentially that xyz could be donated to your local actual food bank instead. If tickets are sold for the event and staff are volunteers then someone somewhere is making a profit and that person/people should be feeding their volunteers. Glastonbury volunteer stewards certainly used to get meal vouchers per shift worked.

Any chance you could post details of the festival so we can email them to let them know how tasteless their request is? Foodbanks are for the poor and needy not festival volunteers. Yuck.

Nope very very wrong. And worth pointing out at this time of year actual food banks could do with extra donations as all the kids are off school for the summer and families need extra food to feed them as they won’t be getting free school meals.

I’d be forwarding that one to the local paper, someone needs to look into their finances/set up!

That’s awful

They should receive a voucher for the food stalls at the festival. Paid for by the organisers. Greedy gits

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?

Is the Festival 'posh'? Or is it put on so everyone can experience art?

I Volunteer and I know people/Vicars/Councillors who run various things.

Things have changed in the last years, with venues now charging for what used to be free. Businesses have cut back on support etc.

Volunteers may well be the people who often fall into the categories that may need to use the food banks. Volunteering for Community Events keeps economically inactive people in touch with others and has other benefits for all parties.

OP why not find out about funding? If funding sources have been cut, or will be?

How active in Community matters are you?

A food bank has a store of food for those that need it. The meaning has changed along with the connotations, thanks to this Government, but before that, the use of the term would have been totally correct.

As said, get actively interested/involved and then see if a criticism is deserved.

"Still seems odd to me that volunteers couldn't bring a sandwich"

It depends how long they are volunteering for, what food storage that they have, were the Volunteers come from/their circumstances.

You could Volunteer next year, get in for free and find out.

I've just been to a Festival today, the food prices are steep, but hwta you would expect.

I'm very grateful for the Volunteers, there was an incident of fighting between gangs of Men and they, along with security stepped in to keep everyone safe. They also have to put up with complaints about the bag searches etc that they had to do.

These events would happen without Volunteers.

It seems like a way for the organisers to maximise their profits by using emotive language to get their volunteer staff fed for nothing.

I wonder if they will be charging the staff for the food!

They are tugging at those heartstrings somewhere in Scotland!

The wording is disgusting and the scenario just bizarre.

@Birdsgottafly

I have no problem with them using volunteers for a community festival, it's the wording used when asking for things that the organisers should be providing as part of the organisation that I find irksome.

Is it posh? Well the festival is over ten days with various art and entertainment shows with a marquee. Ticket prices are £10-£15 for the music concerts, £28 for a murder mystery etc.

There are various patrons to the festival that pay a yearly donation to it, no way of finding out how the finances work for without upsetting the locals.

At least the offending ad was changed quickly.

This would make me wonder of food vans etc are going to be there. If i was volunteering my time id want more than jam on toast. So the whole thing us just bizare. Not to mention offensive on so many levels.

Id comment on it and passove agressively ask if they would be donating left overs to a genuine food bank for those in dire straights and need?

The OP has updated to say the wording has been changed.

It's so sad that some people's harsh reality is a bit of a joke for other people. All the arts festival had to do was ask their volunteers to bring a packed lunch.

whether they change the wording or not, I still wonder what they are up to.

perhaps everyone just loves these community festivals so much that they don't care, but someone somewhere is making a profit and I think if the food ultimately gets sold back to the public, then people might not like the festival so much?

I have to confess to being a bit flummoxed by the proliferation of these sorts of things though. A friend in a band was asked to play for free in one and they were charging quite a bit.

Can't believe they called it a food bank! What made them think that was a good idea?

When I read the title I thought they were asking festival goers to donate an item which would go to a proper food bank.

This is so wrong.
CFs

Like pp said, despite the word change, what are they playing at? I've volunteered, tea/coffee are usually provided (biscuits if you are lucky) but you bring your own lunch. Are the organisers new to or inexperienced at this kind of event? Is it a regular one, what were volunteer arrangements in past? Really odd/cheeky.

@CSIblonde

I'm not sure of previous arrangements, as I've always been on holiday when the festival has been on in the past, although it has been going a good few years.

The offending post is actually still up on the page, the updated post was added but the Food Bank one has not been removed. Clearly the people that gave it thumbs up and heart emoticons haven't had to use a food bank before, or known anyone that has.

I guess there's probably a lot of shady stuff that goes on in the name of these sorts of things.

I guess there's probably a lot of shady stuff that goes on in the name of these sorts of things.

There's nothing shady. It is badly worded and will no doubt be sorted soon. But it's a great festival, run by really good people - volunteers - who work hard. It's a lot of work for one small village and makes living here very special.

There are various patrons to the festival that pay a yearly donation to it, no way of finding out how the finances work for without upsetting the locals.

I doubt it would offend anyone.

I wonder if they will be charging the staff for the food! They are tugging at those heartstrings somewhere in Scotland!

It is 10 days of events mainly for the people who live there. Lots of things for local kids at the school, community centre etc. Not a big one-location thing. It's funny how many daft assumptions are made from one post.

Every year I've been donating a bag of groceries to foodbanks at Christmas despite not having a lot of money myself. I believed that those using it were either unemployed on benefits, zero rated contracts or low income. Now it seems people earning over £24,000 are using foodbanks saying they can't afford to live on their salaries!!

My husband and I have a joint income of £21,000 (I work 3 days a week). Like others i have a mortgage, bills to pay, children to feed and clothe. I'm not a key worker nor is my husband we do not get discounts on mortgage like key workers do, nor discount on council tax, nor discounted meals at staff restaurants etc. We rarely eat out, we occasionally go abroad on holiday like most people, we don't view going out or going on holiday as essential. If we can't afford it we won't do it. We get by on our salary, we keep to a careful budget and put aside a little for emergencies. So I cannot see how an individual earning £24,000 plus can't cope.

I know other who earn less than £24,000 who also feel that foodbanks are now being used to subsidise the wealthy. If I donate to a foodbanks how can I tell if it is going to the poor and not people who are spending their money unwisely?