to expect people not to give ridiculous items to food bank...

[MariaAngustias]

I volunteer at a food bank. Everything is weighed in then weighed out for audit purposes. Whilst there are many lovely and generous people who donate to use there are some people who give such odd and weird things - out of date food, opened packets, packs of hair dye (yep, few of these at moment), medication ... and obviously this stuff cannot be given out but it has to be sorted, weighed and then disposed of. Why?!

I run the stores for a very small food bank in an area that has huge inequality. It is Nigella vs Local Cafe so the donations do not always marry up with what people want to eat. We run a delivery only system as it is a rural area where people rather go hungry than be seen to be using the foodbank. So when we get a call the delivery driver picks the goods off the shelf as if in a shop, while the person is on the phone. They are given the choice of what we have in stock - we are in the happy position of having more donations than need atm.

I find people even with the choice of having something nice & unusual don't want to take the risk of using precious energy in case they don't like it. Given the choice they will go for the things they know. Even if we send them out as an extra they come back to me (I write the BBE & check the item is not subject to a FSA recall for everything for stock control)

When I get too much of an item (currently - beans, soup, pasta, pasta sauce, spaghetti hoops, vegetable chilli, rice in sachets) I put notices up for the drivers to say it needs to be shifted. If it is still an issue I send it to other foodbanks around and about if they can use it, if it is opened, gone past it's BB date, random item from a hamper / impulse holiday buy it goes to our local pantry. The Pantry / other foodbank boxes are taken by one of the drivers to the pantry twice a week.

All the checking and diverting takes time, but I recognise that the act of giving is beneficial to the donor if only to avoid being the sole child who hasn't put a tin in the Harvest Festival box then so be it. It breaks my heart when I get an item in from the Harvest Festival boxes from shcools with my writing on the top. I don't know the circumstances / reason for the donation so I don't judge - I just deal with it.

I shaved my head at the beginning of lockdown and have decided to remain with a shaved head - i had a number of hair dyes and gave them to the food bank who were really grateful for them.

having dyed hair growing out is a huge embarrassment for many people and especially if they are going for job interview.

It might not be their first choice of colour but for many its a godsend,.

I suppose it is a bit difficult for food bank when they have donations from unwanted bits of artisan hampers, eg marron glacé (ugh) or stuffed wild boar testicle etc etc. I know many people (not even elderly)
who would even think something like hummus is too way out.

Reminds me of when fil was in the navy in the war and his boat was torpedoed and they were saved and put ashore at a US naval base. Laid out were unimaginable riches for the Brits - tables of giant steaks and all the trimmings. Fil said he was dismayed that so many of his compatriots moaned “I’m not eating that muck - I want a nice cuppa and bacon and eggs.”

Someone asked upthread about washing tabs etc.. we could give out things like a small box of powder, but I’m pretty sure we couldn’t split things like a big box of liquitabs or pods into smaller numbers, because of health and safety. The original boxes have all the proper warnings on, and the safety lids to stop kids getting at them. If we gave them out without and someone got hurt we could be liable. Even with powder, I think it would need original packaging.. we already gave out sugar in small bags, so you can see the dangers if someone got the two mixed up. Bottles of washing up liquid were appreciated though, or cleaning wipes / spray.

Some charity shops take rags (knackered clothes) to sell. As far as I know they get chewed up yo make something or other. U just put in bag and mark it rags. Thought I'd mention as a few have said its out of order to donate. Hair dye mmmm not sure but if I needed one I'd be grateful. When I was skint I bought whatever shade was closest to what I liked, that was on offer. I like the idea of putting on table to help yourself.

We have a site in Stockport on fb called skthrift and you can give away items you no longer need or want. I picked up some hair dye from a lady and was very grateful for it. One man's trash is another man's treasure as the saying goes.