Food banks in trouble

[unsi_sempai]

Hey folks,

The tanking economy, unsurprisingly, is hitting food banks pretty hard. If you want to help out, good charities to donate to are:

(Nationwide)
- Feeding America
- Oxfam America

(Boston area)

- Greater Boston Food Bank
- Project Bread
- Food for Free(n.b. - these are ones I've donated to before and which I know have a good reputation

Comments

[realcream]

Boston Organics gives their excess to Food for Free.

[unsi_sempai]

Ooh, thanks, adding that. I'm glad their fruits and veggies don't go to waste!

[elahadrun]

And every day you can click at www.thehungersite.com and their ad revenue goes to a few different food-based charities... If you do Thousand Villages type Christmas shopping there, it funds food, too.

[unsi_sempai]

Holy moly, that site's still up!

[librarybrandy]

Our library is currently doing Food for Fines until the end of December. Most people are pretty generous; a couple bring in a store-brand can of peas to clear $10+ in fines. jerks.

We asked the guy picking up the food for the local food pantry what kinds of things are particularly useful--what don't they get enough of? The list he gave us:
-coffee
-mustard/mayo/ketchup/relish
-Spaghettios (really)
-pancake syrup
-sugar
-brownie mixes
-cereal
-canned fruit
-baked beans

I can only assume this is universal--he said they get a ton of pasta and canned veggies, but so few things that technically qualify as "luxuries" (i.e., brownie mix). I know I have a lot of this stuff kicking around my pantry right now; I'm going to look tonight and make sure none of it's expired, then clean house. (Note to self: STOP BUYING BAKED BEANS WE DON'T EAT THEM VERY OFTEN.)

[unsi_sempai]

FUN TIP for people who go out to specifically buy stuff for food banks: look for vegetarian cans of baked beans to donate! I never even thought of that before I started living with a vegetarian, but they often have that lump of pork swimming around in 'em, and not everyone who gets food from a food bank eats pork or even meat.

[drenormous]

Canned food item that has been pissing me off lately: Progresso vegetable soup isn't vegetarian and we keep nearly getting fooled by it. You have to buy the "vegetarian vegetable" soup to get one without chicken broth. Fuckers.

[thelala]

Thanks. If the economy wasn't hitting ME so hard, I could give more. :-(

[elahadrun]

Also, I don't know about around y'all but here in western mass the Food Bank of Western MA, which is in part funded by Feeding America, sells very cute little holiday/winter cards like this one; we used to send out our requisite Business Holiday Season Cards from Eastworks with them; if your job does something similar you can have them buy their 200 cards from guys like these, or you can just buy like a dozen for your you.