Is this Facebook post reasonable or rude and ungrateful?

[Cantheowneroftheredcorsapleasemovetheircar]

Opinions in the comments are split. What's yours?

YABU - rude and ungrateful
YANBU - understandable

Ungrateful

Totally reasonable post. You cannot dump food like that outside a food bank. It will end up costing the charity money to get rid of it.

Understandable.

If it is going to waste and costing the charity then the drop offs need to stop.

Because it makes someone feel good, doesn't justify allowing them to continue to cause issues.

Why?

Why is it ungrateful to not want something that costs the charity money?

It's not ungrateful if it can't be used. And people shouldn't be dumping stuff at the door anyway. If you have that amount of stuff to donate you should be checking the place can take it and taking it when its open. I see this as the same as people who dump their stuff at charity shops overnight- its just fly tipping essentially!

Fruit, veg and bread not needed?

I think it should have been worded in much more polite manner.

I think it could have maybe been worded better but I do see their point

I think the sentiment is fine but the way it’s put is rude and ungrateful.

What about a post saying “we have had more than normal donations of things like bread/sandwiches lately and whilst we really appreciate the community support for the food bank, these aren’t the sorts of food we can easily distribute. Please bear in mind that packets/tins are preferred donations and anything else will unfortunately likely go to waste and cause extra work for those volunteering for the charity”

Much more polite but gets the point across rather than being rude to people who are clearly trying to to a good deed but went awry.

Understandable. You can't dump refrigerated items like sandwiches outside, they are completely unusable.

Same with fresh food, if they don't have the correct storage or enough space for it, then it can't be used either.

Donating what's convenient to you, but a pain in the arse for the charity is all about the giver, not the recipient.

Yes, this would have been better, did they put up a list of what they do need? I imagine with how rude that post is people who have previously donated will think sod you unfortunately.

Completely reasonable

and if people still think it’s ungrateful after reading the explanation then they are a bit dim.

Donating what's convenient to you, but a pain in the arse for the charity is all about the giver, not the recipient.

Exactly.

It needs to be blunt so people take note

Most foodbanks can’t store fresh food.

Seems fair to me. Maybe they've tried leaving polite notes and the 'helpful' person hasn't got the message?

This is far too wordy and not nearly as clear as the original post.

Ridiculous leaving sandwiches on a doorstep.

Reasonable. The sort of food in that pic usually goes to things like community fridges/pantries.
This is just fly tipping really. Same as when people leave crap outside of charity shops. They are just passing the buck in the guise of a good deed, which turns out to be not so good when the charity has to pay to dispose of it.

It's a reasonable request but badly worded.

Completely reasonable. I'm a food bank trustee and we have to pay commercial rates for our food waste to be taken away. Unusable food like this will literally cost them money to deal with. Money that could have been spent on fuel to pick up donations of usable food from supermarkets and to fill in gaps in donations if we run short of something..

And yes, before people come at me, people need food - but we can only open IF we have volunteers to run the sessions. If the food bank is closed then food needs to be donated via a donation point - and refrigerated food usually can't be used as we don't have a cold chain and we can't usually get it out to people before it's out of date.

Olio is the place to donate refrigerated items.

But the problem is not “more than normal amounts of bread and sandwiches.” The message clearly says that the charity organiser does not collect much bread because it’s a nuisance. There’s no point being mealy mouthed and dressing it up: bread and sandwiches are unhelpful. And leaving it out like that is simply thoughtless and lazy.

It’s like people who are too lazy to take items to a charity shop and leave toys and unwanted stuff out on the pavement for others to deal with. It gets rained on, peed on by dogs and just hangs around until the council is forced to take it.

No-one needs to be grateful for having to pick up someone's shit off their doorstep.

And shit is exactly what it is since it could be contaminated by the time anyone needs to eat it.

It needs to be direct to get through to people lacking in common sense - of course you don't dump food that needs to be kept refrigerated on the doorstep. Coupled with that it's costing them money to dispose of it because they pay commercial rates.

Poorly worded but the point they made was very valid.
People use food banks and charity shops as ways to clear out there cupboards and feel good about themselves, and expect the needy poor to be grateful for anything they get.
If a charity can't use your donation for any reason then they have to pay to dispose of it, that is the opposite of helping!

I do think the post should have been worded both more politely, but also more clearly. I didnt understand from that if they never take fresh foods (plenty of food banks don't as they don't have refrigeration, or it won't keep until the next distribution day) of they already have enough fresh food, or what.

I can't believe they have to pay commercial rates for food waste removal, is there no government scheme or tax rebate for this? They already rely on volunteers, that's a bit much.