We rely on regular donations of food to be able to do what we do. Be it a single can of carrots purchased and placed in the foodbank basket at the supermarket, or a multi-pack of long-life milk taken to a local church collection point – or even a whole bag of shopping purchased specifically for us and delivered to our warehouse. Every can, packet or jar is gratefully received and WILL make a difference to someone who is struggling.
Whether you’re a regular donor or not, however, there are a few tips that can make sure your donation works even harder for you, for us and for the people we help. We want every donor to be a Food Donation Champion! Here are our top-FIVE donation tips…
- Check our ‘Wish list’ social media posts!
Foodbanks often find they have a surplus of some items (pasta, baked beans, tinned soup are perfect examples) but are short of others. What foodbanks need changes from month to month or even week to week, so it’s really helpful to check before donating. Following us on social media and checking our most recent posts will make sure you know exactly what we’re short of BEFORE you spend your money. We’re on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. - Check the date!
We’ve all been there – it’s Harvest Festival or Bring-a-Tin-Tuesday and you grab a can from the cupboard to take to school or church or community group collection. Please pause and check the date! We can’t put any out-of-date food in our food parcels – or even food that’s close to its best before date. - Check the size!
With some items, small sizes are far more use to us. Having plenty of small sizes in stock means we can help even more people who are struggling to afford food. Unfortunately, we can’t open packaging and split large boxes of teabags or divide up large jars of coffee or bottles of cooking oil. We know buying large sizes is more economical but for us, three small boxes of teabags can help three households have a hot morning brew, where as one large box can only help one. Items we prefer in smaller sizes include cooking oils, teabags, coffee, sugar, squash, washing up liquid, washing powder and Ready Brek. Remember, for us, ‘Small is useful!’ - Check your calendar!
“Christmas is only just over and already the supermarket shelves are full of Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies!” Annoying? Not for us…! We prefer most* seasonal and festival-related items well in advance so they can be collected, processed by our warehouse volunteers and distributed in time. Any festival-related chocolate items for Easter, Eid or Christmas will have a pretty good shelf life. Likewise, Christmas cake and puddings.
*Mince pies, however, are different story… Please refer back to point number 1! - Check: No fresh!
Unfortunately, we don’t have the facilities to store fresh food so our food parcels rely entirely on cans, jars, packets and boxed items, most of which have a LONG shelf life. The journey your donation makes can take weeks before it ends up in a food parcel and choosing items accordingly can really help. Some items such as cakes and biscuits have shorter shelf-life than cans of food so with these, its best to choose the cake in a packet with a two-month date, for example, rather than the cake in a box with a week-long date.
And to all our donors, THANK YOU. Thank you for your kindness, community spirit and for taking the time to think of others.
Every donation helps.
