Food drives and donations (hamburger, tuna, tomato, peanut butter)
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This time of year, our local food pantries hold major drives to stock their shelves for the holidays and cold months ahead. All the schools have collection weeks, the grocery stores ask for donations, and churches and scouting groups go door to door. I think this is the month that the postal workers have their food drive as well.
My family is mostly vegetarian, and we eat a lot of unprocessed food. I donate things like spaghetti, jars of sauce (no HFCS or other junk), dry beans and lentils, brown rice, quinoa, peanut butter, and oats. I eat fish from time to time, so I will also donate cans of tuna. Things like mac and cheese, ramen, Spaghetti-Os, Hamburger Helper, Rice-a-Roni, etc. are frequently on sale, but I don't eat that stuff so I feel bad about expecting someone else to eat it--not to mention it's more economical to spend $2 on a 2-lb bag of brown rice instead of two boxes of Rice-a-Roni that were 10 for $10 that week. However, I worry sometimes whether people wonder what the heck they are supposed to do with two pounds of brown rice and wish they had Rice-a-Roni instead.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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We donate money. The last time (right after Yom Kippur, after someone said something to the effect of "I hope your fast is difficult and miserable so that tomorrow you'll donate food to people who are often hungry"), we discovered that we don't have a lot of non-perishable food in the house, certainly not enough -- or of "better" stuff -- to make a respectable donation. I don't now if the donation of money makes it harder on the organizers -- whether THEY then go out to buy food -- but at least I know that the amount that was donated far surpassed what the food would have added up to.
I donate things like spaghetti, jars of sauce (no HFCS or other junk), dry beans and lentils, brown rice, quinoa, peanut butter, and oats. I eat fish from time to time, so I will also donate cans of tuna.
Peanut butter and tuna are good; any kind of canned or non-perishable protein -- canned beans, canned chili, canned stew -- is most welcome. (When I worked at a regional food bank, this is what I'd tell people as the PR director. )
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However, I worry sometimes whether people wonder what the heck they are supposed to do with two pounds of brown rice and wish they had Rice-a-Roni instead.
That's a valid concern. While the majority of the people who need food assistance may have the equipment to cook brown rice, or lentils or quinoa, they may not know how to cook it. And there are other people who live in substandard housing, without a stove, or they may have limited cooking equipment. Also, time is a luxury many working-class families may not have.
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What kind of foods do you typically donate?
Peanut butter, canned beans, dried beans (soup kitchens especially can use these), canned meats, canned vegetables.
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Originally Posted by DandJ
We donate money.
Bless you. A regional food bank can purchase $9 worth of food for every $1 donated. A food pantry, a shelter, or a soup kitchen can purchase food from a regional food bank for pennies per pound. One dollar can provide four meals. Each dollar goes a long way.
I think I heard on the radio that a jar of baby food costs something like a dime at wholesale, so donating at the store is great! I don't know why there are such big efforts to collect food items rather than money. Do people participate more? I give money at the store if there's an opportunity to tack an amount on to the final bill, but the food drives around here don't seem to ask for money, at least not during the holiday drives at the schools and such.
We donate money directly to the shelters that serve free meals to the homeless. They are able to purchase nutritious food in quantity to cook and serve.
We also volunteer our time to serve meals, not during holiday season when there are plenty of volunteers but other times of the year when no one else does.
I donate pasta, canned tomato products, peanut butter, tuna, canned chicken, soups, and anything else that I think someone would want to eat. I buy rice in the very large bags, so I don't usually donate that.
I donate pasta, canned tomato products, peanut butter, tuna, canned chicken, soups, and anything else that I think someone would want to eat. I buy rice in the very large bags, so I don't usually donate that.
I also donate pet food and kitty litter.
Same here, I just dont donate pet foods or Kitty litter..
Yeah, dogs and cats need to eat also but if people cant afford to feed themselves..well...
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