To be really pissed off about my office's attitude towards our food bank donation

[LookingForAHandHold]

Every year we run an office collection for a local food bank. This year we're doing one for families with nothing and young children.

So far im the only one who has really donated. I understand times are tough, but it's £1 for a pack of biscuits in Iceland.

People are making horrible comments too, about the branded names etc and the ungrateful brats who don't deserve it. It's for young children. It just breaks my heart.

I'm so close to taking it all home and donating it myself

I think these schemes are really area dependant. We have one in our area and it’s really successful. The local community growing scheme donates excess veg, apples from the community orchard. You get some bakery stuff from local businesses, scones and things that haven’t sold. Local Co op donates ready meals and sandwiches that are yellow stickered. Lots of homemade jam and chutney type things.

Its not really a substitute for a proper food bank but you could get your dinner most nights and a tired scone with jam for breakfast. Reduces food waste too.

You are so ignorant. There are the working poor. Families who work have never been under so much pressure financially. They don’t have anything handed to them. There are so many people living in nothing at the end of the month.

I'm guessing it's a food collection for children in a certain deprived area in your town or city ? It's horrible social profiling saying the kids don't deserve it and the parents should get jobs . Like the people who live there are lesser and deserve the predicament they are in . The parents probably have jobs but are on minimum wage and can just about make ends meet. Your colleagues don't have to donate but there is no need to be snobby or nasty about it . They should keep their remarks to themselves .

The comments about “brats” are completely disgusting. I really don’t understand why they’ve only asked for branded products because I bet that’s bothered people. I am not low income but with the price of food (and everything else!) creeping up, I don’t buy branded stuff except for the occasional thing that we prefer the taste of. I wouldn’t donate to a food bank who requested branded foods as I would question their motives.

Families on minimum wage end up with UC top-ups that result in incomes equivalent to earning £55k+ on PAYE.

I'm curious, can you point me to the source of this information?

This is the issue isn't it. They've said "branded items would be appreciated as a treat" and everyone's decided they want branded items only

What are you saying here? That it is OK for the working poor to insult/denigrate the children of the non-working poor? It's one thing to not donate to a foodback charity for homeless families but quite another to make unkind comments about the homeless people that use that foodbank.

https://www.entitledto.co.uk/

Enter your details with minimum wage and average rent for your area and see what figure is produced.

UC entitlement is pretty complex. There's huge variation in the awards people can end up with, even at the same household income. If you have high private rent and childcare costs, it's true you can end up with an award giving you the same end income as someone who earns much more. But not a given by any means. It depends.

Does the poster say "as a treat"? Or is that your interpretation? Does it actually say "would be appreciated" or "if possible" or "only"? Word for word, what does it say?
Precisely how many have you heard making these comments? The whole office, or one or two?
I'm finding it slightly baffling that you don't want to reflect at all on whether the cause or the promotion might be the issue. I just don't buy that previously generous people are suddenly horrible, and you, the lowly secretary are the only one who cares about children. There's more to it.

OP has sent out one email telling them which charity has been chosen this year (and OP has had no input in choosing this charity) and saying that any donations will be gratefully received.

So I'm not sure how OP withdrawing her involvement will result in a rush of people queueing to donate, especially as they have been making horrible comments about the beneficiaries of this foodbank.

You obviously just want to put the boot into OP and tell her that she is so dreadful that her involvement has led to previously generous people not only not donating but referring to the children of the homeless families as 'ungrateful brats' for possibly receiving some donated branded products as a treat.

anecdotal but I’m not far off this situation. UC entitlement of £1500 or so due to dc / a bit of childcare childcare. I take home £2000 varies a bit ( above min wage to be fair ). I own rather than rent, so higher work entitlement. I take home £400 ish UC after deductions plus child benefit plus Scottish child payment and I get a council tax discount. My ex is on £60k takes home about £3.5k There’s not a big difference between our actual monthly incomes. Although our gross salaries are massively different.

If I rented it’d be higher and I could absolutely see how someone could be getting £3k plus a month all in. That a decent bit of that would just be going directly to a landlord as we don’t have enough social housing us a seperate arguement.

You've pissed people off telling them they're supposed to donate. I wouldn't, if you tried that. I give lots to charity but I choose who, when, how, and how much. You don't tell people they have to!

How many people did that and how many times? Was it the usual office curmudgeon? How are you hearing, are you standing over the food bank collection box?

Brats is a really odd name to call a homeless child, brat is more for a badly behaved child usually.

Yes that’s such a weird phrase „ we are all supposed to donate“ says who? We are all asked to donate if we can yes, fair enough but op it’s like you think it’s a rule?

And therein lies where the ungrateful comments are coming from, most likely.

Lots of people are having to cut out branded products from their food shop to make their money go further and make ends meet-so I, for one, would feel a bit taken aback at being asked to provide branded products to a food bank when I'm not able to provide them for myself.

Honestly-you can't control other people or dictate how other people spend their money and their time. You think it's a worthy cause and you're happy to donate. That's all you can do.

And I don't buy that you're just bothered about the comments when you've specifically moaned about them buying takeaway lunches. So, it's more than that.

Yes, the comments aren't nice, but honestly, your comments about their spending habits and seeming desire to spend their money for them isn't very nice, either.

As for the "It's only £1!" comments-really? Yeah, sure this donation is allegedly only £1. But what of all the other charities people are also asked to donate to, especially at this time of year? If they all beat you around the head with the same stick of "But it's just a £1!" those "just a pounds" steadily start to add up, don't they?

It's one thing to put out an email and inform people of a collection taking place-and entirely another to sit there, eyeing what people are having for their dinners and making judgements about them based on the fact that they dared to buy a sandwich rather than pay for a pack of biscuits for poor Tiny Tim.

I also suspect that this is as much about making yourself feel morally superior to other people, OP. I don't know why but you give off self-righteous every time you post and if that attitude comes across in how you communicate with your colleagues-maybe that's off-putting.

And your circumstances are relevant here, OP. You may feel differently when you have to make ends meet in a household you're trying to run by yourself. When you realise that you don't have £90 spare to give to charity because you need it for your own food/utility bill/whatever.

I know before I moved out on my own-I was a lot more idealistic and "giving" because I could afford to be. Now, I have to watch my money to know it's going to get me through a month. Maybe some of your colleagues are like that, too.

Also just to add to my typically wordy post-a lot of people view food banks as a place for people get the necessities. Not treats.

Being asked to provide branded treats at a time when many are cutting them out-will give the impression that maybe the own branded stuff is being refused by the people who use the food banks, maybe. I'm not saying that's the case-but it could be the impression that is received.

As soon as the Marketing Department starts getting staff involved with charity donations, I think 'no chance'.

It won't be anything personal, op.

I've had too many versions of seeing the Director stood with the charity CEO (aka big golfing buddy) for fabulous photo opportunities (performative advertising) to make sure I never would donate.

I always think they can just donate whatever, themselves.

Same with celebrities on TV and adverts. It completely puts me off.

It's not disposable income, if the figure is to pay for high rents such as London .

Lots of people think you can just rock up to a food bank and get lots of stuff for nothing. They don’t realise that for most food banks you have to be referred.

Yes, hence I didn't say anything about disposable income.

People are allowed to not contribute, but the comments are vile.