Food bank ideas

[Ideasplease322]

Anyone volunteer in a food bank?

Every week I buy sanitary products for the local food bank.

I also get shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrushes.

They seem to have loads of pasta and tins - and I figured toiletries are maybe in shorter supply.

Is there anything else that you think families really need but people forget to donate?

They often don't have enough tinned meat and fish.
Long life milk.
Fruit juice.

The food banks near me give details on their websites of the things they need and the things they don't. They also ask for cash donations and that is probably the best thing to give.

As extras I put in stock cubes, ketchup, mayo etc. Also soya or oat milk.

The best thing to do is to ask your local food bank what they are short of. They vary so much in what they need.

I think it’s best to ask them what they’re looking for as it can vary on what they need.
Also a cash donation goes a long way if you’re able.
I always try and give a few sweet treats too if I can, like chocolates etc.

The thing most food banks need at the moment is money rather than just food. It means they can pay for their premises, utility bills and if they have staff, or out some money on someone's gas /electricity or buy something like a specific type of baby milk etc. Most people don't want to give cash as good feels more comfortable to donate.

Check the website or call them to see what they are short of. There are some charities who take fresh food and make meals (well they did pre Covid) and some who work with homeless people so take toiletries and warm clothes too.

Your best asking the food bank. My local one posts lists on their Facebook page

I check with mine's facebook page each week. Ours helps a lot of asylum seekers in the city and are always short of spices, chickpeas, lentils etc

They also always want bags for life!

Ours are always needing pet food and toiletries (toothpaste, deodorant)

If you ask yours they can probably let you know what is most needed. I think most also take cash donations. I seem to recall my local one said they rarely get enough longlife milk, but it will vary by area x

Money, the extra 20% gift aid goes a long way towards more food, they can buy in bulk and buy what they need.

I set up a monthly direct debit with gift aid to Trussel Trust that runs most of them including our local ones.

I found the anxiety of thinking what to get and remembering got a bit much tbh plus now we get most shops delivered as well.

Ask them for a list of what they need - it'll differ based on area.

Our local one has just put out an appeal for pasta sauces and tuna (as well as the usual items). If your local foodbank has a Facebook page you may be able to see what they are in need of.

Please, please contact your local Food Bank and ask them what they need - we get so many generous donations, but actually we don't need anything at the moment and I wish people would direct their donations to the Food Banks that are struggling- but so many people want to donate 'locally' but what is the point if we genuinely, really, 100% have more donations and money than we need ?? We never, ever ask for donations... but they keep flooding in .

And sorry to sound ungrateful but we have a tampax mountain that we can't shift !!

I give Aldi gift cards when I can afford it, usually €50. I post those in to the charity. They deal with families and in my city there is a lot of aldis around so the families or staff can buy fresh fruit or meat etc.
I generally put toiletries or face cream, hand cream and biscuits or treat food unless they appeal for specific food items weekly. Our local wholesalers are great with donations of tins or dried goods.

It varies.
Our local one supports a lot of young families, so I sometimes include colouring books, or those (overpriced!) vaguely educational kids magazines. Not a "need", but a nice treat for kids in lockdown.

Our local one is often short of staples like: Cereal, pasta sauce (makes the donated pasta much nicer!), tinned puddings, tinned sweetcorn, tinned tuna, tinned tomatoes and treats.

I also donate fresh fruit and veg like apples, underripe bananas, carrots, onions, potatoes etc as they have a reasonable shelf life. Some food banks dont accept donations of fresh fruit at all though.

Foodbanks vary a lot in what they need so worth checking with your local one if possible.

Can you check if they have a Facebook page they will post there exactly what they need

@Ragwort if you have excess can your food bank not donate it to another one or is that not allowed for some reason?

Ours always is desperate for tinned meat (steak in gravy, chicken in white sauce, meatballs, Fray Bentos pies) and tinned potatos or dried mash. Also small bags of sugar, UHT milk, tinned fruit and custard. For some reason the only place you can find this is in the service sheet for the church, so now I follow them on FB to look at it

Hi, I run a Food Bank & we love people to ask us what we need at any one time - one problem most Food Banks have is storage space, so if we can direct donations to what we need rather than stockpile one particular item (pasta & beans are always donors’ first thoughts), then that’s great. Money is also brilliant, as we have access to reduced price outlets for products, so we can always get better value by buying things ourselves 💕

We too have a mountain of tampax that I can't see diminishing any time soon. Local women's spaces don't want any either. Which makes me wonder if some well meaning local groups had a 'good idea' and shared it!

Please do check with your local food bank. They'll let you know. And do ask if cash would be useful at this time. We rarely take cash, don't ask. But we now have a donation bank account and a cash box!!!!

But, if you asked me at the moment I'd also beg you, no more chocolate. Please, no more chocolate! 😁

Yup, the needs of ours varies from month to month, so I keep an eye on their Facebook page. They always seem to have an excess of pasta and baked beans
Commonly asked for items include tinned spaghetti, tinned meat and tuna, tinned veg and fruit, pasta sauce and dried instant pasta

I set up a direct debit - my friend runs one and said that honestly is what they always need most