Foodbank buying items from shops?

[girlfriend44]

I always thought that foodbanks were given out of date stock when I saw them collecting from shops and supermarkets.
I have now found out they buy items from certain retailers at a reduced price.
They put orders in. Where does the money come from to purchase?
Also they have vans, which cost money in petrol etc.
Anyone else think the same, never realised they were collecting stuff they had ordered in. I thought it was donated to them?÷

People donate money to food banks.

Our local food bank accept cash donations from people and businesses, to get stock of things they need.

Of course the money they have donated it used to buy food...what else do you think its used for....yabu...

People donate money as well as food. They don't want out of date food so I'm not sure where you got that from? They want food they can hand to families and individuals who would otherwise be without meals for several days. It's not meant to be a way to get rid of out of date stuff.

The food bank we go to buys in specific items for us each month (we have dietary requirements) they said they get donations and that’s what they use to buy items they need

They take cash donations which is used to buy what they know they need, didn't you realise this?

Food banks started with good intentions but are now just completely broken. Around here you have people who have factored in the free food bank food in to their costs, it’s not an ‘emergency’ need but something they account for so they can spend money on other things. “Build it and they will come”.
i have no doubt some are in desperate need but unfortunately many have become reliant on them for all the wrong reasons.

Why on earth would they want out of date food?

I don't think they're allowed to give out out of date food. A relative volunteers at a food bank and they always mark the expiry dates on the packaging and get rid of expired stuff.

I donate cash online. I think they get far too many cabs of beans and pasta gifted in the shops so cash means they can buy whatever they are short of.

I didn't realise they got a discount, that's good. I assumed they went to cash and carry type places.

Fund raisers?

Why would they be collecting out of date food? It's illegal to redistribute OOD food and retailers are obligated to destroy it instead. Some items like bakery gets given to soup kitchens to be used the same day. All good donated must be in date. It's quite strange to assume otherwise.

They can't possibly survive on just donated food , there is not enough volume , variety , intolerance or allergy donated.
How else do you expect them to pick up the food that are donated in the shops other than use a van ?

They get donated cash

My local food bank has a wish list on Amazon which I think is a brilliant idea.
And as pp have said lots of people donate money so they can buy whatever is in demand, or they’re short of. .
And of course they need a vehicle, it has to be properly insured with made drivers and I don’t see how they’d collect food without a vehicle.

Why can't you buy it yourself? I thought foodbanks were temporary support for basics not a regular option or meeting 'dietary requirements' surely you'd just pick up the basics from them and buy whatever special goods you need yourself? I can't imagine being unable to afford to feed myself and then asking for specific foods for free from charity. Maybe I just don't understand how this new world works.

My mum goes to a sale once a month at a church where the stall has all the items too “niche” for their usual food bank parcels - hamper-type items that people donate with good intentions but don’t fit the list. So the money raised from these sales go to buy the staples.

All our local ones collect monetary donations as well. Hey have to order stuff in because they would t be able to make well balanced parcels with just donations, there are always gaps in what's donated, people tend towards pasts, rice, sauce jars etc but users also need toiletries and oil and sugar.

There is an app called Bank the Food which shows what items your local bank needs urgently and what they have excess of, my local one has bleach and lemon juice on their urgent list at the moment 2 items I would t think of to add.

Of course they buy food. Most of them are largely funded by grants and subsidies rather than simply giving out food donations from the public. This funding also pays for transport, training, rent, utilities etc.

This is what this thread is making me wonder. I thought food banks were temporary measures to cover the basics for a short time whilst someone gets back on their feet.

I have a small direct debit to our local food bank. I find it easier then having to remember to buy something extra to put in the collection trolley plus trying to guess what they might need at any given time.

Donations, fundraising, grants.

it wastes so much of volunteers time sifting through yet another out of date tin of beans donated.

They don't use out of date food!

Do you think people that use foodbanks don't deserve to have the same food as the rest of us?

They can't accept food that doesn't have much of a shelf life as it would be useless fairly quickly

For info:
Food banks work by:

Accepting donations
Food banks receive non-perishable food from individuals, businesses, schools, churches, and supermarkets.

Sorting and storing food
Volunteers check the food for freshness and pack it into boxes.

Identifying people in need
Food banks partner with care professionals, such as doctors, social workers, and health visitors, to identify people in crisis.

Providing food
People in need receive a food voucher from a referring organization, such as a charity, school, or GP. They can then exchange the voucher for a food parcel at a food bank. The parcel usually contains enough food for three days.

Offering other services
Some food banks may also provide essential toiletries, like deodorant or toothpaste. Others may offer opportunities to meet with professionals, such as debt advisors.

I volunteer for a food charity and we cannot give out of date food to service users! Nobody is allowed to do that.

Also we sometimes have to buy supplies of certain essentials, although we subscribe to surplus food networks, and receive donations in kind from growers and wholesalers. What we get given can be a bit random and cash has sometimes to be used to buy in what's missing to make the meals.

Most would rather have cash then they can buy what they need in bulk at reduced prices, most get way too much pasta etc.At worst they need to balance what they have in stock and what their clients need. One near us did a challenge to swap something for pasta as they had such an oversupply.