Food bank donations

[Shazzatastic]

Just wondering what others think. I usually add a few bits to the supermarket's food bank collection (the other day I added about about two dozen items as very worried about those who are going without)

Yesterday, one of the news programs featured a food bank and interviewed a lady, but as she went to leave the food bank she had a super full trolley load of supplies. I am aware she may have six kids and it may have to last a while. But it looked excessive to me. Am I wrong in my thinking

I remember about a dozen years ago, struggling financially, what I could afford for the week wouldn't even fill a basket. At the time I tried to make it a sort of game with my daughter, let's see how cheap we can be this week (novelty to start with but does wear thin)

Also when choosing items to add to the foodbank trolley, I wonder whether to buy 2 of the smart price items instead of 1 regular item. I feel mean buying smartprice to donate but figure I can buy twice as many items and perhaps help twice as many

Just wondering what others think

If I'm donating to the food bank I rather something nice not the cheapest alternative because that person is struggling.

Best to donate money. The food bank system where you drop some tins in bin at Asda is so stupidly inefficient. Give them cash then they can buy what they need and at bulk discounts.

Our food bank delivers the food. They've found that often the neediest people don't want others to know that they're getting food from the food bank so they won't go. There's also potentially the issue of transport. Walking 3 miles carrying your shopping for the week isn't fun, and the bus is so expensive it can easily be £5 for one adult one child, and often there's more than one child, so they can't afford to come. So they deliver a box of food and all the neighbours can see is that they have a food delivery.

Having packed a few over lockdown, a family of four for a week it does look a lot, but really there isn't much over necessities. They always try to put a couple of treat items in eg packet of biscuits, or cereal bars or similar, but really it isn't something to be envious of.

Our food bank does prefer non basic range. Their reasoning is that the people who are receiving the food already feel like they're at the bottom of the heap and they feel a box of basics food emphasises that. I agree and disagree with that. When they're short of food, then buying 4 tins of basics as opposed to one of normal means 4 times as many people can have some. But I also see where they're coming from, and it's nice to pack a box which looks nice.

If you're buying stuff for foodbanks then, do get the standard pasta/baked beans/soup, but also packets of biscuits, tinned fruit they're always short of, and tinned meat too. Also things like the individual jellies are fantastic for the children, a little treat that doesn't cost much.

But yes, money donations are wonderful too. It means that they can buy things when they don't have them, rather than giving just what they have. When during the first lockdown we were packing food parcels, at one point we had no money, but hadn't been donated any pasta sauce. So we had food parcels going out with tinned tomatoes and pasta and that's pretty boring. When we found somewhere that would supply us with pasta sauces it was much better and money donations enabled us to do that.

I think it's great of a food bank has the transport and the volunteers to deliver. But it's quite a big ask.

A very pregnant woman that I referred to a food bank in fairly central London, had to take two buses and walk a fair distance to get there. It was her nearest one. By the time she'd paid the bus fares there and back, and collected the single carrier bag of food that she was given (and could carry) I'm not sure she gained much from it.

set up a regular cash donation and gist aid it if you're a UK taxpayer.

duur gift aid

I am donating things that don't take any cooking because of elec and gas costs.

Ie
Pot noodles
Bread
Tinned stuff like tuna and sweetcorn.

I generally donate what I'd eat myself or donate money. Our nearest food bank lists the items they need on its website.

Sugar IS available at our foodbank for anyone who asks. It's not automatically on a list - as if you don't use it it is wasted and it's a pain to store too - goes damp easily so not always alot around. I know Trussell had a thing about sugar not sure that's still a thing but Trussell foodbanks are franchises so make their own rules!

The honest answer is whatever works for you. Cash is used to fill food gaps but also to pay the rent and other running costs so is more flexible - but without food there is no foodbank.

Are you being unreasonable, OP? Yes.

If someone has reached a point where they need to use a food bank - on top of the actual financial need and the hunger that’s probably contributed to reaching that point as they’ve tried to eke out what they’ve got ever further, there’s the worry and perceived humiliation of having reached that point - then I don’t care how much they’ve been given.

A bit of critical thinking goes a very long way.

I send a monthly donation via DD to a local group who provide food for the homeless. But can't gift aid as I'm also on benefits (recovering from a stroke but due to disability unlikely to ever work again)

I add to the food bank trolly when able to

Thank you for all comments though, and appreciate the advice on what to buy to contribute

It's fascinating actually. And we've had a few repeat clients who don't turn up - when asked they didn't have time, didn't have a car etc... really? Obviously really needed it didn't they? Didn't even ring to enquire if there was any other assistance available...

That's a very good point, thank you will add a few similar items next time x

Or, like the pregnant woman I mentioned, they couldn't afford the bus fare one week.
It's humiliating enough to have to ask for food as it is. Calling to say they can't afford the bus is an extra layer of humiliation and begging that they can't face.

We often get homeless clients and sometimes have to work with people to work out what they can actually use to eat as they have no kitchen, no tin opener perhaps and other challenges. Instant noodles, ring pull tins, instant mash all make a load of difference to these folks!

That's one of the reasons Trussell work with referrers - in the hope that whoever gave that pregnant lady her voucher also made sure she had the means to pick up the parcel. Trussell foodbanks can do a safe space delivery (to the referrer or somewhere they are known e.g. school, pharmacy) or the referrer or other support worker can collect on their behalf.

I've always put no-cook items in the food bank trolley since I did a home visit (in my professional role before I retired) to a family living in one room, with a single electric ring in the corner.

The tinned chicken in white sauce is delicious cold, by the way. It's not a cheap option, but it gets some protein into people without needing cooking, and makes a change from tuna or corned beef.

Obviously it depends on what resources are available to volunteers on the delivery front but if contacted they will always do their best if the client does their best too...

That last bit is good to know. Unfortunately, I was helping this woman remotely (without going into too much detail, we support people who have had to leave our local area and could end up anywhere in the country) so we weren't able to physically help her get to the food bank, or have one of our volunteers collect it for her. And of course she was also reluctant to tell us of her plight, which I only found out about when the food bank called me when she didn't collect.

Yesterday, one of the news programs featured a food bank and interviewed a lady, but as she went to leave the food bank she had a super full trolley load of supplies. I am aware she may have six kids and it may have to last a while. But it looked excessive to me. Am I wrong in my thinking

She may also have been asked to push away a loaded trolley for the news item, who knows if that was actually what she was taking away. Most food banks do limit the amount and frequency of what is provided.

Also when choosing items to add to the foodbank trolley, I wonder whether to buy 2 of the smart price items instead of 1 regular item. I feel mean buying smartprice to donate but figure I can buy twice as many items and perhaps help twice as many

I tend to buy two of what I'm buying for myself, if that makes sense. So my child likes x brand of cereal, and we generally buy x brand of pasta - I buy another of the same for the food bank. I buy value tinned tomatoes and kidney beans for us - happy to send those to the food bank too.

Please don't donate bread unless your foodbank is specifically asking for it. Most foodbanks cannot store fresh food so it just goes to waste if left in collection points.

General rule of thumb (unless specifically requested) is don't donate anything that couldn't sit in a cupboard for 2 weeks before it is used as collection points aren't collected daily, foodbanks have only ambient storage facilities and most banks only operate 1 or 2 sessions a week.

Hello,
I don’t understand these figures particularly, but there seems to be a lot of cash flying around. Can tescos not donate to their food banks? Could we buy food from them at a reduced rate for food banks?our local garage sells potatoes for £8. And they presumably make a profit. The equivalent weight in tescos is £40www.tescoplc.com/news/2022/preliminary-results-202122/

Tesco does donate to the food banks.

Oh good!