To Let You Know What My Food Bank Needs

[RamblinRosie]

I’m guessing the requirements are similar across the country, mine needs:

Tea bags
Pasta sauces
Nappies size 5&6
Tinned vegetables
Jams/spreads

Apparently, they don’t feel they can ask for biscuits or treats, but they are very much appreciated.

My local food collection point is full of very worthy food but I like to add a few nice bits, if you need to use a food bank, you deserve the occasional treat.

My local one needs jam, rice pudding, instant mash and coffee, among other things. Plenty of beans, pasta and tea. It does vary quite a lot but is easy to look up now.

I work for a Trussell Trust foodbank. The big packs of tea bags can be split but only if the smaller packs inside are individually dated. Better to buy the smaller ones. We have set amounts to give different clients eg. a single person or a family so again smaller packs are better. I would check with your nearest foodbank what they need, it changes each week. When we publish what we are short of we get loads of it and are then short of something else. Money is welcome, we have a lot of costs including storage, petrol, tax and insurance for our van. Most of the volunteers are retired and there is a lot of heavy lifting so strong people with muscles are always very welcome! There are sometimes people who need gluten free/vegetarian. With Easter and Christmas please make sure they are donated in plenty of time and check the last date the foodbank is open before those dates. We get loads of mince pies in January! Check dates on everything. We wouldn't accept opened packs of sanitary products. We always need shampoo/conditioner/shower gel and are always short of mens toiletries.

I've posted this before but I basically went to the supermarket and thought I'm skint, I'm tired after work and I don't want to cook and don't have the facilities, what do I want to eat? This Olivander, well said.
I was in council temporary accommodation a few years ago, I had a room with a sink, microwave, kettle, tiny fridge, small food cupboard.

Also a plea for gluten-free food - it's so expensive. Poor people have intolerances too, it's not trendy, vomiting and diarrhoea would kind of make eating gluten pointless and I needed the calories, plus agonising stomach cramps doesn't improve a miserable existence.
I would have appreciated chocolate so much. Also basically any of those microwave or add boiling water pot noodles, pasta etc. And the pots of fruit in jelly. Basically, anything you just microwave or add boiling water to that's not heavy or bulky.
I actually had to stop the food bank staff as they wanted to give me 3 bags of mainly tins, bags of pasta etc which I couldn't carry. I have health issues and add having to walk everywhere on not enough food, I had to walk to the station, get a train then walk to the hostel. People might not have a car (or be able to afford to use it), and public transport may involve a long walk as well or they might not even be able to afford fares. I physically couldn't have carried it all.
Basically, please make things as small and light as possible where you can for storage and carrying. Those tiny bottles of squash, packets and pots not tins, eg soup, beans (those little plastic microwave pots). And yy to ringpull if you give tins, I didn't have a tin opener or the energy or money to get one. Also please give the no-drain kind if giving tuna, I didn't have a sieve either, also the juice stinks out a small room, not nice to have to sleep feet away from where you prepare food in any case. There are lots of microwave pot meals with tuna, or those little John West pots with various flavourings...flavour is always appreciated, people won't have store cupboard spices etc to add to eg pasta and tinned tomatoes, even if they have the facilities, one of those Dolmio etc microwave pots of pasta and sauce is so much better. It is countering, and I speak as a mc person who does know how to cook. I have facilities now so I do make pasta dishes, curries etc etc from scratch but it just wasn't possible then.

I would have loved nice toiletries, was using Lidl stuff, and sanitary products, I used to send off for free samples - but this was before awareness of period poverty.

My local one has the following:

Sorry posted too soon. I try to donate useful stuff but see I have been overdoing it on the sanitary towels! We are skint but managing. It makes my blood boil to think that people in this day and age, in a wealthy country, are dependent on food banks. I'm happy to do what I can but what the fuck is the government doing? Fucking amazon and google paying next to no tax and I'm trying to help with a few sodding biscuits.

There’s a ridiculous notion among the current government that because the Trussel Trust has historical links to some famous Labour supporter, the whole dire situation can be glossed over or treated as a political football. (From the mouth of a Tory MP to me). Moronic

Our local food bank was collecting at the supermarket a few weeks ago. I commented that I usually donate cash online so they can buy what they need. Was quite taken aback that the volunteer said he doesn’t know where the money goes if I do that as he doesn’t know of them buying anything themselves. He said he’d rather I donated food than cash. Is this right?!

fairypenguin
I used to run a food bank. Some people donated to Trussel Trust (or similar) and it was unrestricted funds, so could go on staffing, rental of property (to store), salaries, advertising.
Some would donate as restricted to their local food bank, or donate directly there.
That would pay for petrol, milk, fresh fruit and food bags etc. We also used it to top up food during the summer when less people donated, and for things like advent calendars If we could afford it.

Sounds like the volunteer shouldn’t be volunteering, fairy

That’s unbelievable Chocy some attitudes defy logic.

I donate to Trussel Trust by direct debit. It’s easy to do on their website.

Ok, well I shall continue to donate online in that case. My local foodbank is Trussell Trust but they have their own account so I know my donation is going to my local branch. I don’t mind whether it goes to buy food or to keep the food bank running. I was just very surprised at what the volunteer said to me.

You can donate money to Trussell Trust or to your local foodbank. I know what it would be spent on at my local one but not necessarily at Trussell Trust as it will be spent on what is needed most in any part of the country.

I have lots of unopened guest size shampoo, conditioner and shower gels from hotels. Can foodbanks use those?

Are individually wrapped tea bags, sachets of coffee/hot chocolate etc any good or are they too small to be useful?

fairy most volunteers won’t know how/where/if money comes in. It doesn’t happen often and there will be many other things to think about so it’s unlikely they will always know

I was wondering that, knots.

Are you in London? If so, maybe contact the Whitechapel Missiom (for the homeless)

whitechapel.org.uk/donate/inkind

I volunteer at a Foodbank and don't know how cash donations are spent all the time. We have different teams, front line - manning the banks, procurement and logistics - getting the stuff and moving to our two bases and back off - dealing with PR, the trustees etc. I work on the front line so unless someone from the procurement team mentions they have purchased x I won't know.
We advertise on our website and Facebook page what we need as any given time. This time of year is usually good as we get harvest festival donations from schools and churches. Allows us to replenish our stocks after the summer when donations fall off but we get more use - with the children not getting free school meals.

I always buy a few things from the suggested list and always add some biscuits sweets , chocolate. How crap must life be without a small treat. I always image a child's face when they see them in their food package

Sorry - maybe I should have been clearer. I was surprised that he said he’d prefer me to donate physical items at the supermarket collection point than to donate cash. That’s what surprised me, as I thought donating cash would be preferable as the foodbank could then spend it as required.

I was surprised when Tesco had a food bank collection that they didn't have a cash collection. As Tesco double up wouldn't that be sensible then the Trust could buy what was needed.

I put smaller packets in, especially coffee and biscuits. Will look at Facebook pages in future. Really ought to put one small item in every week.

This has been an incredibly helpful thread. I think I may have been a bit worthy in my donations before imagining all the meals which could be made. Stupidly I hadn’t considered lack of space and facilities.

I will be much more considered when I donate at work this week

I've used a foodbank and I found the following things useful - tinned tomatoes, tomato soup, baked beans, pasta, tinned tuna, tinned spaghetti, cream crackers, sachets of 2 in 1 coffee or the instant cappucino ones, tinned fruit and tinned custard (our favourite treat). I would have welcomed a pack of red lentils. I did get tinned chickpeas and tinned kidney beans when I told them I didn't eat meat which was fine for us.
Toiletries - we did need toothpaste and sanitary towels for my daughter.
We don't eat biscuits so I politely declined them so others could benefit. I usually put bourbon biscuits in when I put food in the donation box, I think most people like them and they give a nice chocolaty hit. Instant hot chocolate (the kind that only needs boiling water) is also a very nice treat when you're very skint, even the cheapest basic ones are nice.
Thanks to everyone who donates

When you're searching for the local food bank search "food bank + area". The Trussell Trust do a brilliant job but there are hundreds of food banks that are independent of them, and they're often overlooked. We have two in my town, one run by the Salvation Army and one independent.

Is anyone else getting ads from Universal Credit on the feed? Bloody disgusting that they're allowed to advertise on here.

Len I was visiting in the North East recently & got chatting to someone who volunteers in a Food Bank, he told me that it is actually cost effective for them to drive to Food Banks in the South where stocks are over flowing and can be passed on. I am lucky in that our Food Bank is incredibly well supported so although I give my time as a volunteer I no longer give food, I would prefer to send a donation to a less well supported Food Bank.

Fairy not all volunteers will know the exact details of how a Food Bank runs, some of our's help three or four times a year and won't know everything about how we operate.

I have just collected from one of our supermarkets, a lady stopped me and gave me a packet of couscous and said 'is this too exotic', I hope I answered her politely & of course I genuinely thanked her but I did suggest items which may be more useful.