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?

I donated some food a while back and was talking to one of the volunteers who said that vegetarian staples are often overlooked. Another is pet food and supplies.

I remember watching a programme when ds was a baby so in 2003 and it was about food banks in America. I was so shocked and they seemed such an alien concept at the time

I donate cash as I know the local food bank has shoppers every week who go buy the most-needed items, so I figure they can use cash donations to fill in the gaps of what people haven't donated.

I do a monthly direct debit beacuse I know that the people who work there know best what is needed, and this is regular income they can rely on.

It just shows how important it is to ask first, because contrary to some posts in this thread, I know for a fact our local food bank has recently posted requests for Tampax etc.

ShouldIStop Yes foodbanks will share with each other if they have an excess. Or if there's lots of one thing with a short date, usually when a supermarket offloads something. We've been gifted literally tonnes by food banks in more affluent areas.

If you can afford it meat or fish as you generally get more of the cheaper items donated.

We really appreciate money as we cover a wide area and need to run a van.

Thanks - I donate at my local garage and I’m not sure which foodbank it is. Lazy I know but I’m not out and about much these seats and they have a trolley at the front so I can drop a basket full of items in when I am shopping.

I really should ask them which one it is and contact them directly.

But cash would be easier - particularly if they take online donations

I now feel stupid for my sanitary products😩.

I was buying pads in pretty packaging aimed at teens. Though I was being g so thoughtful - but they are probably in a pile somewhere.

Will get on the internet tonight and stop with the trolley in the garage. Although I will probably donate less in cash as I tend to get carried away with the shopping.

I do wish they would give more information in shops about what they need. There is just a random trolley with no leaflets.

God I hope it’s not fake- I have put hundreds of pounds worth of (probably useless) toiletries in it over the last few months

I always put in a nice packet of biscuits. Life doesn't seem so bad with chocolate and a cuppa

Bless you. You sound very kind and thoughtful OP.
I guess a lot depends on your area, as I'm sure some areas are crying out for items and don't have enough to go round and other more wealthier or areas with less unemployment won't have so much depend.

I usually donate via Ocado, as they match your donation and work with local food banks to buy what need.

I wish supermarkets would put a sign up by the entrance with items that are needed.

Don't feel bad!!!!!!

Most weeks we are really short of such stuff.

I really should have thought that through, I don't want to put anyone off donating anything. We use everything, find people who can use what we cannot (even enormous catering tins of prunes - which might out a previous user name 😁 )

Don’t worry, I’m not out of just feeling a little silly - I should have looked into it more before I loaded up on pads and shampoo. Hate to think of people rolling their eyes in the food bank and having to worry about storing useless donations!

I will do better - i have contacted a local foodbank to ask them if it is them collecting internet he garage. I need to settle myself that it was actually a real collection.

Then I will see about setting up a direct debit.

I don't think we eye roll. I think we giggle. Sometimes nervously.

I told the story of an enormous tin of prunes some years ago. It was huge, 3 or 4kgs from memory. Donated by a catering company that was going bust. The owner made sure we got a lot of his stock.

Well, we couldn't buse it. The community cafe, meals on wheels and soup kitchen couldn't use it. And it had a very long use by date, so we initially thought we'd have no problem finding a home for it even though our usual partners had passed on it.

Given I joined Mumsnet about 8 years ago, we had had it for 5 years at that point, I think we had it for about 6 or 7 years all told. It ended up as a doorstop. We miss it, it was a great doorstop!

I suspect most good banks have something similar every now and then 😁

Coffee
Tea
Sugar
Cooking oil
Nappies in larger sizes
Detergent

bloodyhairy

I always put in a nice packet of biscuits. Life doesn't seem so bad with chocolate and a cuppa sad“

Hear, hear! Always put in a few boxes of chocs at Christmas. It’s the little things that lift our spirits.

“Then I will see about setting up a direct debit”

Was delighted to see at Christmas that the Trussell Trust is currently fully funded and was suggesting to visitors to its website that they donate elsewhere, so we’re supporting our local Methodist church bank and community cafe. Three meals a day, £1, children eat free. It’s sorely needed here.

I’m an atheist but they’re really good, non-judgemental people. No referall needed. If you turn up in need, they help. That’s what churches should be all about.

The food bank I work for is church based. I am the least religious person you are likely not meet. But the food bank is not at all religious. We're not even in a church building any more.

It would be nice if other Indy banks, church based or other, got more attention, especially if Trussell is fully funded again. They do usually signpost other banks and organisations when that happens.

should we do try and pass food on but to be honest, where we are all the Food Banks are very well stocked. I remember talking to a Food Bank provider in the North East who said they were so short of stocks that it was worth their while to hire a truck to collect food from the more affluent Food Banks.

You sound very kind. I am sure almost any donations are appreciated. Money, ideally a regular amount paid directly to the charity, is the most useful as the food bank can use it to buy what they are short of, which can vary week to week. Most also have some expenses associated with moving the food around or their premises too.

CuriousaboutSamphire

The food bank I work for is church based. I am the least religious person you are likely not meet. But the food bank is not at all religious. We're not even in a church building any more.“

The local Methodist Church bank had totally changed my mind about “religious” people.
When all of this is over bar the shouting and my CEV husband is vaccinated, I’m going to volunteer if they’ll have me, non-believer that I am

Ours always asks for microwaveable sponge puddings. It makes sense - they’re long life, relatively cheap for donors to buy and are a bit more of a ‘treat’ item than people sometimes think to buy. (I know I used to always buy pasta or beans when I first donated.)

I work in a Foodbank every week,

Please don’t feel silly about the sanitary products, tbh, whilst we may have a lot of it, it doesn’t expire, and therefore it’s not a huge problem, apart from space.

We are always running short of deodorant and other personal care bits and pieces, We always have a mountain of cereal and pasta and pasta meals.

Here’s my tip though. If you can, please drop it into Tesco, because they also make a cash donation to the trussell trust for every kg of products donated. This means your donation goes way further than what you put in, it means we get money too to spend on other stuff we need.

We weigh everything that comes in and it is recorded in order to make that calculation.

We do give to one of the local foodbanks via the Morrisons online checkout though bizarrely recently that wasn't an option (before the supply chain issue), but I wanted to say thank you to the other practical ideas people have shared, I'm now aware of several other options to try to help spread what little we can give.

I'm not a fan of the proselytising approach either, religious conversion attempts should be kept out of it, this shouldn't be about God points but about charity in the most genuine sense. I could go on about how astonishingly judgemental many so called Christians can be but I'll just shut up on that topic now.

I did have to laugh at the "let them eat apples" bit though, would bread and water be acceptable or is that too much of a luxury?! Since our local MP belongs to the party whose supporters and decisions have made food banks such a necessity, I also have real issues with Tory MP poverty porn, but experience has taught me there's no point trying to explain that to them.

Thanks again to those who've mentioned the Ocado scheme and others and the various non food banks too.

When I was in secondary school I had unbelievably heavy periods. I used to steal money out of my friends pockets to buy deodorant and sanitary towels. I would have done anything for a moon cup that I could reuse every month. they are more expensive, think about 10 to 15 pounds each, but when you can't even afford 40p for the basic brand of towels.
I used to have to be sent home for bleeding through the make shift toilet role 'pads' and my periods were constant for years and didn't settle into a monthly occurance until I was an adult.
I was bullied terribly for smelling and leaking through. It was so embarrassing.
A pack of pads didn't last, a moon cup would have saved me from stealing from my friends. If that is an option I would do that.
(Both parents smoked. 60 a day between them. makes me angry to this day)

Cosmetics, non-essential toiletries that make life that little bit nicer. Some cleaning products. Our local also accepts new/in packaging underwear and socks. I feel like these are often overlooked, but they often arent available in second hand shops.

I also mix it up with sanitary products, spices and cooking ingredients that don’t require a lot of work to use, like chili sauces, packet mixes. Also things like pasta/noodle/cupasoups that only require a kettle. I know a lot of folks cant afford to run a cooker.

I personally try to buy the best quality of things too, I don’t buy all value if I wouldn’t eat it myself.

Some great ideas here, I will take a few!

Thanks for this thread. After reading it, I just donated some money through PayPal to our local food back. Usually we give food, but they recently were on local paper saying the where the public may get 1 tin of soup from a shop, they can get 10 time for same price.