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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Unwanted food parcel

127 replies

Basecamp65 · 21/01/2021 11:44

Just wondered if anyone could give some advice on what to do.

Last week we found on our doorstep a bag with 2 pieces of clingfilm wrapped cheese, a cucumber, some carrots and some apples.

We thought it looked like a free school meals top up. although we have two children we do not get free meals. We asked the couple of people near us with children but none of them get free school meals.

We did not know what to do and thought that the people dropping if off had probably got the right number but wrong street - think rows of terraced houses that all look the same and have similar names. We did not know what else to do.

But it has now happened again. we simply do not know who to contact to say they are dropping it at the wrong house - obviously there is a family going without.

Any advice?

OP posts:
caringcarer · 21/01/2021 15:54

Phone council. I thought they were supposed to be in charge of food parcels.

Givemeabreak88 · 21/01/2021 15:56

How would the OP know which school to contact. Where I live there are 9 different schools within 20 mins walking distance.

She didn’t put in the op that she homeschools though did she so most people would assume the children had a school they attended. If she had included that then pp wouldn’t have asked.

LizFlowers · 21/01/2021 16:04

@ZeroFuchsGiven

Why didn't You contact the school when it first happened?
What school? The op doesn't know where the parcel has come from.
foxhat · 21/01/2021 16:11

Pease don't be put off posting for advice by the arrogant haters. There is no helping some people. You, however, appear to have a social conscience. I hope you can get it sorted.

peak2021 · 21/01/2021 16:19

If you cannot find out who had it, please use the food and do not waste it. And perhaps make a charitable donation to match the amount you have not spent as a result, say to the Trussell Trust who run food banks.

Palatka · 21/01/2021 16:23

@RinkyD

Cheese wrapped in clingfilm, i would not be eating any cheese not contained in a sealed bag. Could be a local poisoner...lol
Yeah, that occurred to me too.
Ewanthescreamsheep · 21/01/2021 16:37

I wouldn't waste my time contacting everyman and his dog to try and figure out who's leaving it, when a note will get the message straight to the right person.
Also don't understand the 'no front garden' issue - stating that you DON'T need food parcels isn't embarrassing, unless you think it sounds like a stealth boast Grin

TroysMammy · 21/01/2021 16:41

Does your area have Next Door? You could ask on there.

Ifeelsuchafool · 22/01/2021 17:43

Not everybody has, or wants the book of face. Hmm
To be honest I'd just have left the second one there to rot. Whoever they are would think twice about leaving any more. It's littering really isn't it? Unsolicited shit dumped on your doorstep. Why should you have to deal with it OP?

Singinghollybob · 22/01/2021 17:58

I'd leave a note on the door.

Suzi888 · 22/01/2021 18:00

Contact your local authority?

Persephoned · 22/01/2021 18:11

I agree that it doesn’t sound like a food parcel OP (even a really poor one). So I don’t think contacting food parcel providers would help. Two bit of cheese and a couple of pieces of veg sounds odd, if it hadn’t happened a second time I’d just think someone had dropped something. Was the second one the same?

I’d put a note on the door saying, ‘Unwanted food has been left on this doorstep - please don’t deposit food here’ or similar.

Persephoned · 22/01/2021 18:12

And with the best will in the world I certainly wouldn’t be using a couple of random bits of cheese not in sealed packaging someone had left outside my door....

bumblingbovine49 · 22/01/2021 18:16

Why is posting on here worse than on Facebook ?. I don't use Facebook so would never think to post on there for anything .

Op you may find the ' Next Door' app useful for this . If you download it, you can join and it will have only local people posting who may be of more help as it seems likely to be a local delivery.

cherish123 · 22/01/2021 18:25

If there are multiple schools, i would contact the council. However, they will probably be useless. I would also put it on a local Facebook group.

Localocal · 22/01/2021 19:09

Contact your local council's Covid support hub.

TheOneLeggedJockey · 22/01/2021 19:18

I don’t think you’re going to get suggestions much more sophisticated than -

  • leave a note on your day (probably the most effective, albeit lo-tech solution, even if your door is directly on the street)
  • post in local FB group
  • call the Council
  • call the local school/s (your DC being home-schooled doesn’t preclude you doing to us)
  • call the local church/es.
AllegedlyChaos · 22/01/2021 19:37

It's a secret message, has to be.

Carrot, Cheese, Clingfilm, Cucumber but then Apples. Obviously a code...

Jayne35 · 22/01/2021 19:51

Why are people surprised the cheese is clingfilm wrapped? You know that’s how they are doing the free school meal parcels, they obviously buy in bulk then cut and wrap, the pasta was in food bags too so it had been split. This was clear on the pictures on the news and social media.

Agree with others OP, leave a note before the next delivery advising it’s a mistake.

TheOneLeggedJockey · 22/01/2021 19:54

@AllegedlyChaos

It's a secret message, has to be.

Carrot, Cheese, Clingfilm, Cucumber but then Apples. Obviously a code...

Grin
Givemeabreak88 · 22/01/2021 19:55

My food parcels from the school the cheese was in a sealed bag, I think the point is she doesn’t know where it’s from, so the fact it isn’t sealed is concerning, if she knew it was from a school fair enough but a random strangers house? Nah, that’s why people are mentioning it! Thought that was obvious.

ThePricklySheep · 22/01/2021 19:59

Are you worried someone will steal the note on your door?
Put one inside a window then.

Wearethechampionsmyfriend · 22/01/2021 22:09

Allispretty - why write such a snotty reply OP was just asking for advice.

SmeleanorSmellstrop · 22/01/2021 22:40

I would write a polite note saying thank you but this is the wrong house and not something blunt like 'do not leave food here' as the latter might mean the person it is intended for is assumed to not want to food and is struck off of some kind of list and so having to go without rather than the deliverer realising they just have the wrong address

Witchend · 22/01/2021 22:58

That's not a full parcel. I would guess someone else received one and decided to pass what they wouldn't use on.

Alternatively someone has mistakenly given your name as someone who needs it.
I was involved in doing foodparcels in the first lockdown and we had a few times when someone phoned up for someone-but didn't tell us they weren't the actual person requesting. (often parent of adult children!)
This meant we had a few times when someone was very embarrassed because they didn't think they needed it, and on a couple of occasions very embarrassed because they ended up with two because they had requested one too.

But deciding to pass on things from a food parcel that they don't need was very common, especially from elderly people who felt that a loaf of bread and a can of soup was fine to do them a week. (we disagreed!) We'd sometimes find they'd distributed the box among their neighbours who they felt were far needier than they were. It was quite sweet how they looked out for each other.

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