If you are planning on helping families at a food bank this season, things you probably don’t know. 1. Everyone donates Kraft Mac and Cheese in the box. They can rarely use it because it needs milk and butter which is hard to get from regular food banks. 2. Boxed milk is a treasure, as kids need it for cereal which they also get a lot of. 3. Everyone donates pasta sauce and spaghetti noodles. 4. They cannot eat all the awesome canned veggies and soup unless you put a can opener in too or buy pop tops. 5. Oil is a luxury but needed for Rice a-Roni which they also get a lot of. 6. Spices or salt and pepper would be a real Christmas gift. 7. Tea bags and coffee make them feel like you care. 8. Sugar and flour are treats. 9. They fawn over fresh produce donated by farmers and grocery stores. 10. Seeds are cool in Spring and Summer because growing can be easy for some. 11. They rarely get fresh meat. 12. Tuna and crackers make a good lunch. 13. Hamburger Helper goes nowhere without ground beef. 14. They get lots of peanut butter and jelly but usually not sandwich bread. 15. Butter or margarine is nice too. 16. Eggs are a real commodity. 17. Cake mix and frosting makes it possible to make a child’s birthday cake. 18. Dishwashing detergent is very expensive and is always appreciated. 19. Feminine hygiene products are a luxury and women will cry over that. 20. Everyone loves Stove Top Stuffing. In all the years I have donated food at the Holidays, I bought what I thought they wanted but have never asked. I am glad I did. If you are helping a Family this Christmas, maybe this can help you tailor it more. It does for me!
: Edna De la Cruz
God bless you for caring enough to help.
25 thoughts on “A PSA For Those Who Donate To Food Banks And Food Dives For The Holidays”
Damn good post.
I hadn’t even considered a few of those ideas.
GREAT PSA!
74,retired and on Social Security and I have a budget of about $30 per week for food donations. The place I donate asked for eggs when I told them I would spend my budget anyway they wanted. I and my siblings starved as children and that’s why I do it, I know the crushing pain of not enough food and no idea when there will be more.
I swear that no one who hasn’t ever been hungry like that will ever understand.
This is the reason I have so much trouble with my wife only keeping enough food on hand for one week at a time. It drives me insane.
Slide in a box of turkey stuffing with a can of turkey gravy. Glass jar is best. Or if you have a Sam’s or Costco card, get the average of her weekly spending and with the savings get an extra of something. I find that the cases of soups are great savings as are the Jiff peanut butter along with the cereal. That way you have some measure of food security and she won’t have to shop every week except maybe for fresh food.
canned chicken is always welcomed I have found.
same thing for powdered milk. and olive oil.
never cared for corn oil and whatever else there was
but pint size bottles of olive oil really hit it off with
the food bank. cake mix goes nowhere without the stuff needed to make it. and rye or wheat bread is better than plain old white in my view.
If you hunt, make sure to donate as much meat as you can. Most states have programs that will pay for the processing, or just find those in your area that may need extra and drop off some “because you have so much”.
Great point!
The jeets in TGWN are stripping the banks bare before the people born here even get an chance to get anything of nutritional value. FUCK the turd™.
Even in our rural area we get people coming out from the cities and demanding hand outs from the food bank. Mostly non citizens.
What i do is i put together boxes for local families on hard times and discreetly drop them on their front door. I also make fresh lasagne in foil pans and drop those off at some local seniors houses that are having trouble make ends meet. Those i hand deliver because they are not sealed factory packages and people are concerned about random pans of food on their doorstep. I usually tell them i had left over ingredients from making one for our supper.
Canned ham, Jasmine rice 15 Bean soup mix, canned diced tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, Rotel, green beans, Velveeta box cheese, salt/pepper/sugar, redi-mix Kool Aid, Wolf canned chili, any canned meats, a country ham, and the list goes on.
Regular rice is better than Jasmine rice. A lot of people think jasmine rice tastes like someone spilt fabric softener in it.
I’m one of those people.
You never told me you were black!
Funnily enough all of the food banks in the county don’t want food, they want volunteers and money. About the only time you can give them actual food is during the holiday food drives, and none of it can be perishable.
My son’s did that today – helped with a food distribution event. They were very short-handed. Many of the people that volunteered were older and could not lift heavy stuff, so they needed some strong young people to lend a hand.
Good on your son’s Don
Especially # 4……INCLUDE A CAN OPENER……….
At least a P-38, but, then again I doubt most people don’t know how to use one…
If one brings a 4 pound butter pack,
Do they have refrigeration? And do they dole it out in pounds or sticks?
If they have refrigeration, do they want fresh milk in gallon or half gallon preferred?
Butter keeps quite awhile on the counter
Phil, I love you man. That is wisdom beyond your years of experience. Thank you.
If your church delivers meals for either holiday I highly recommend volunteering for delivery. It is the greatest joy of Jesus in your heart and the people are great.
Via Con Dios
Big thumbs up Bear.
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Myself once having had to live in an abandoned vehicle for the better part of a Canadian winter, I will attest some of the greatest gifts are gloves, mitts, socks and underwear.
-Goldbond medicated powder
-Scarfs
-Touques
-A modest backpack to hold on to everything you have (I still have mine years later)
For people who have kids, a small stuffed animal (if you can keep it in the original packaging, the kids go crazy over it) or crayons and colouring books.
Damn good post.
I hadn’t even considered a few of those ideas.
GREAT PSA!
74,retired and on Social Security and I have a budget of about $30 per week for food donations. The place I donate asked for eggs when I told them I would spend my budget anyway they wanted. I and my siblings starved as children and that’s why I do it, I know the crushing pain of not enough food and no idea when there will be more.
I swear that no one who hasn’t ever been hungry like that will ever understand.
This is the reason I have so much trouble with my wife only keeping enough food on hand for one week at a time. It drives me insane.
Slide in a box of turkey stuffing with a can of turkey gravy. Glass jar is best. Or if you have a Sam’s or Costco card, get the average of her weekly spending and with the savings get an extra of something. I find that the cases of soups are great savings as are the Jiff peanut butter along with the cereal. That way you have some measure of food security and she won’t have to shop every week except maybe for fresh food.
canned chicken is always welcomed I have found.
same thing for powdered milk. and olive oil.
never cared for corn oil and whatever else there was
but pint size bottles of olive oil really hit it off with
the food bank. cake mix goes nowhere without the stuff needed to make it. and rye or wheat bread is better than plain old white in my view.
If you hunt, make sure to donate as much meat as you can. Most states have programs that will pay for the processing, or just find those in your area that may need extra and drop off some “because you have so much”.
Great point!
The jeets in TGWN are stripping the banks bare before the people born here even get an chance to get anything of nutritional value. FUCK the turd™.
Even in our rural area we get people coming out from the cities and demanding hand outs from the food bank. Mostly non citizens.
What i do is i put together boxes for local families on hard times and discreetly drop them on their front door. I also make fresh lasagne in foil pans and drop those off at some local seniors houses that are having trouble make ends meet. Those i hand deliver because they are not sealed factory packages and people are concerned about random pans of food on their doorstep. I usually tell them i had left over ingredients from making one for our supper.
Pingback: A PSA for food donation – Billoblog
Canned ham, Jasmine rice 15 Bean soup mix, canned diced tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, Rotel, green beans, Velveeta box cheese, salt/pepper/sugar, redi-mix Kool Aid, Wolf canned chili, any canned meats, a country ham, and the list goes on.
Regular rice is better than Jasmine rice. A lot of people think jasmine rice tastes like someone spilt fabric softener in it.
I’m one of those people.
You never told me you were black!
Funnily enough all of the food banks in the county don’t want food, they want volunteers and money. About the only time you can give them actual food is during the holiday food drives, and none of it can be perishable.
My son’s did that today – helped with a food distribution event. They were very short-handed. Many of the people that volunteered were older and could not lift heavy stuff, so they needed some strong young people to lend a hand.
Good on your son’s Don
Especially # 4……INCLUDE A CAN OPENER……….
At least a P-38, but, then again I doubt most people don’t know how to use one…
If one brings a 4 pound butter pack,
Do they have refrigeration? And do they dole it out in pounds or sticks?
If they have refrigeration, do they want fresh milk in gallon or half gallon preferred?
Butter keeps quite awhile on the counter
Phil, I love you man. That is wisdom beyond your years of experience. Thank you.
If your church delivers meals for either holiday I highly recommend volunteering for delivery. It is the greatest joy of Jesus in your heart and the people are great.
Via Con Dios
Big thumbs up Bear.
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Myself once having had to live in an abandoned vehicle for the better part of a Canadian winter, I will attest some of the greatest gifts are gloves, mitts, socks and underwear.
-Goldbond medicated powder
-Scarfs
-Touques
-A modest backpack to hold on to everything you have (I still have mine years later)
For people who have kids, a small stuffed animal (if you can keep it in the original packaging, the kids go crazy over it) or crayons and colouring books.