To ask about donating to foodbanks?

[KatieGoesKaboom]

If I've got a spare fiver am I better going to Asda and buying £5 worth of whatever I think the foodbank might need and putting in the donation trolley, or am I better just finding the foodbank website, like this one warrington.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-money/ and donating the money?

It seems to me that they could probably buy more food (and exactly what they need) with our money than we can, and they probably need money to run the places anyway.

Is money better than a food donation?

[RiddleyW]

Cash is pretty much always better. Either good though obviously.

[Geschwister4]

As others say it depends on the food bank and what they need, best to ask if you can. Some will have lists of food items they desperately need and others may be crowdfunding for their Xmas campaign. It’s a terrible shame we need food banks in 2019 but it’s wonderful people want to help.

This ^. I would urge anyone to donate if they can. We shouldn't need foodbanks, we are a rich country, I live in a rich city. It is shocking that some people don't have enough to eat in my city. But the gvt wont help so it is down to the local community.

[JellyBabiesSaveLives]

ForeverBubblegum - either or both! Quantity is needed, quality is appreciated.

[TSSDNCOP]

What I’d like to be able to do is donate my Nectar or Boots points instead of saving them.

[Pfefferkuchen]

Who would begrudge rounding their £23.99 pizza deal up to £25 if the balance automatically went to the nearest foodbank?

Quite a few people
You don't get to decide where people make donations and be generous on their behalf. It's not your money to spend. It's not up to you to decide on their chosen charity, if any. Other people have other priorities.

Ebay has a optional donation box to tick at the end of your order for example, so much better.

[LoonyLunaLoo]

@ForeverBubblegum surely the supermarket own ones. It doesn’t have to be Smartprice or whatever but there nothing wrong with standard supermarket own brands. Actually, Heinz geeks are awful now as they‘be made them really watery!

[DaisyStarburst]

As said before check with local foodbank. We are always grateful for money as we have to pay for a storage unit to store the food and also run a van to collect from the supermarkets so that money is used towards those.

[KatieGoesKaboom]

You don't get to decide where people make donations and be generous on their behalf.

I meant an option for rounding up your purchase price - like dropping your change into the plastic thing at Macdonalds. Obviously I didn't mean a compulsory surcharge.

[KatieGoesKaboom]

Ebay has a optional donation box to tick at the end of your order for example, so much better.

That's the sort of thing I meant. It just seems appropriate that a company called 'Just Eat' should be contributing to foodbanks somehow.

It would be very appropriate if an organisation such as Just Eat made an effort to support foodbanks in that way.

I don't know how many meals will be ordered through Just Eat on a Friday night - maybe 1 million? (I'me guessing) If the average 'spare change' contribution was just 10p then that's £100,000 raised for foodbanks, in one night.

[DisplayPurposesOnly]

What I’d like to be able to do is donate my Nectar or Boots points instead of saving them.

Yes, I often think that. I've just used my Boots points to fill a shoebox for a homeless person (socks, toiletries, a couple of small treats).

[recededpronunciation]

Ask your local foodbank what they need - they will have a list. It will vary from area to area. Ours does NOT need anymore feminine hygiene products - we are overflowing with them and don’t have huge demand for them, and have had no luck trying to send them on to other foodbanks either.

[KatieGoesKaboom]

I realise they need money for running costs anyway, but do they buy stuff in bulk at cheaper rates with donated money?

[foobio]

If you are a UK taxpayer and can gift aid the donation then it will almost certainly be better, as they would be able to get 20/40% extra.

[Christmastreejoy]

The person asking about whether to go for quantity or quality I would say find a happy medium. Our food bank rarely has value items more your bog standard branded or super market own items. Ours always struggle to get enough donations of men’s toiletries, coffee, sugar, long life milk. They always have a huge abundance of cereal, beans and pasta.

[passthetea]

I had £20 spare today after my big food shop so decided to buy stuff for the food bank. I spent it on sanitary products, nappies, wipes, toothpaste, tooth brushes, soap, shampoo. I think these things get over looked in food bank trollies, I see loads of food but not these things.

[MsRinky]

I donate monthly by standing order, and I Gift Aid it which means the government has to add an extra 20%.

[AlwaysThereForEveryoneElse]

I always do food into a trolley. I just add tins of curry, chilli etc.
Cereal. Uht milk.. Cakes of. Lots of date. Biscuits. Pasta. Etc
As in honesty it's easier for me that way and it can vary from. 50p item to maybe £5 worth of stuff.

[danni0509]

I put in Tesco food bank trolley, not every week as don't always have spare money but recently the things I've put in have included an advent calendar, selection box, long life milk, tea bags, box of mince pies. Usually spend £3/£4 extra when doing my shopping, not much but I figure it all helps.

In future I'll make a note to put in sanitary wear (good idea whoever posted!) baby wipes, packet of size 5 or 6 nappies.

[LittleOwl153]

As a food bank trustee I would urge you to contact your local bank or check their lists on the supermarket trollies and see what they need in terms of shopping. Over and under stocks vary wildly.

In terms of cash or food - we use cash donations to cover rent, staff costs, transport, equipment etc. We don't very often buy food and if we do it would probably be from tesco as a shortage often requires rapid filling.

On the food front I think baked beans and pasta are generally overstocked and we're actually removed from the tesco shopping lists this year but for us tinned fish, meat, rice pudding, and sponge puddings (or Xmas pudding!) uht milk and juice are always in short supply. Toiletries are variable but men's / none scented often short. San Pro we are often over run with and dont use much so donate to the local college.

On the quantity vs quality I usually suggest you buy what you would buy for yourself. As a food bank parcel packer I don't care whether a tin of beans is asda basics or waitrose finest, it's a tin of beans. That said the recipient of the parcel might feel very differently. If we have time we might vary the quality within a parcel but often there isn't the time to check such things.

[Idontknowhowtohelpher]

On the Ocado website it says:
You give money, we give food. Buy a £2.50 voucher and we'll give at least £5 of fresh groceries to our charity food partners. So your donation counts for double or more.
Our charity food partners send us their grocery wish list - it could be simply meat and veg, or tea and loaves of bread - every partner is different. We match your £2.50 donation with at least £5 of fresh groceries and send donations out as often as needed.
Donate Food with Ocado puts power back into the hands of food charities. Rather than receiving boundless baked beans or piles of potatoes, which they can't always redistribute, this way they get exactly what they need. Between 4th December 2017 and 4th August 2018, customers generously donated over £350,000. That's at least £700,000 of fresh groceries for our charity food partners. (And counting!)

[danni0509]

Ok after reading last couple of posts I won't buy sanitary products.

Are Nappies a good idea?

[1Morewineplease]

Local Tesco has a food trolley which has a note on it asking for specifics. We look at the list and grab a few items as we go. Always put sanitary protection in but this thread has reminded me to think about toiletries and other things mentioned.
Great thread.

[Pollaidh]

Ocado match donate by the way, so anyone shopping online there can add a donation of £2.50, £5 or £10 to their basket, which Ocado matches.

[RhymingRabbit3]

@danni0509 look up your local food bank online, many of them have a page saying what they do or don't need. I think nappies in larger sizes are quite a good ones as they're quite expensive so fewer people will donate them and also they don't go out of date.

I think most food banks have an abundance of sanitary products, pasta and beand