dracko19
112412
2001
53
From @justfara on X. With the holidays coming some people like to donate so thought this might be helpful to some.
Oct 25, 2023 2:41 AM
dracko19
112412
2001
53
From @justfara on X. With the holidays coming some people like to donate so thought this might be helpful to some.
RElGNMAN
This needs to go to the front page.
SomeDetroitGuy
Like half of this seems to be "People like perishable food that food banks won't accept because, well, they're perishable".
florpglorp
I wish our taxes went toward helping people
iktome99
I'm not buying that someone is sitting on cans of food because they can't afford a can opener at the dollar store.
stevekemerer
#1 rule is don't donate at Christmas, EVERYONE does (you know, so they can feel good about themselves) and some food banks can't store it all. MUCH better to donate at random times during the year, in particular not at holidays.
Conz
They occasionally collect openly here but when I ask what they have the biggest need for the answer is usually 'anything that doesn't expire quickly' . I'd love to be more specific and just buy a crate of what is lacking most.
Trankia12
Turns out they need all the same stuff everyone else needs, who knew?
TrueNorthernLights
I protest number 13. I've eaten a lot of Helper, thank you very much.
cyberspork
This is really misguided advice. Just. Donate. Money.
Pally01
Money. Foodbanks want money; they buy cheap stuff in bulk and know what they need better than you do.
anoldiebutagoodie
During covid here in Vietnam, the foreigners who stayed did weekly food drives for the local people who lost their jobs in tourism. I would buy 50 or 60 packs of sanitary towels (period pads), or cases of toothpaste and toothbrushes, or a whole lot of soap. Hygiene should not be a luxury
notacobra
Issue across all of these seems to be: "(non perishable) is nice, but it needs (perishable)" or "we get lots of (non perishable) but not much (perishable)" - which, while true, is hard to rectify with food donations. It's more evidence that donating money to shelters is more useful than boxes of dry pasta.
defnotaplane
Donating money is generally best, but if you can only donate food, I think the message is to donate a meal. IE cup a noodle is better than mac and cheese because you only need water, canned meats are a good idea because they can supplement other meals, and household consumables you can spare are a godsend because they have such huge markups on things like good deodorant (Without which many boys are not even allowed to join school sports teams), and women's products.
notacobra
Strictly, for Mac and cheese you only need water too. Most have extensive milk powder and thickeners. It's like how cake mixes used to be "just add water", but people didn't buy them because it felt lazy, so they removed the dried egg + milk powder and changed it to "add egg and milk" and that was enough.
Lokify
Kraft dinner and Other Macroni and Cheese in a box do NOT need butter and milk.
Lokify
It is a preference, NOT a necessity!!!
ahorseelbowdeepinme
For those in need: if the food bank has any religious ties (run by a church, hosted at a church, etc) it's ok to go to that food bank even if you have different views. I've talked to people who legit thought church food banks were for church members only. They don't care, they just want to help.
NonstopRampage
...my worry is that they'd have an agenda to push. Like goddamn AA
KatehasaBlog
Many churches in my city also keep grocery and pharmacy gift cards on hand if people come looking for help. Some churches do still take the “love thy neighbour” thing seriously.
MrMimic
I've volunteered at a local food bank several times, and #9 on the list surprises me. Donated fresh produce is the thing we have to throw away the most because people don't want it/can't use it/don't know how to use it
Snooj
This seems like BS from the get-go. I was poor for years and I never used milk and butter in my mac and cheese. Plenty of ketchup, though.
NonstopRampage
Oh god, my grandfather has some stories to tell you there. Man hates the stuff like vampires hate garlic.
zarathon
Having volunteered at the food bank and shelters, the can opener thing is bologna, although I did give the one I bring with me away *once* and I suspect it ended up discarded later.
defnotaplane
Yeah, most people using the food bank aren't homeless, they are mostly average people suddenly without money to buy essentials. Most had money and then didn't and need some help, they generally have non-consumable items.
Maverickaura
Additionally any can can be opened with basically any knife in a pinch. The opener makes things easy, but is not a prerequisite to get into a can.
Jordan7831
I guess I never thought of bread or meat or veggies because they are perishables. I usually just donate money so the food bank can decide what to buy with the donations
TheRealJoeHasenguy
Kraft mac n cheese does not "need" milk and butter
kanybal
I'm surprised by the flour thing. My dad always taught me to give flour, so I thought they had too much of it. I do ladies hygiene stuff now. You can never have too much of those...
defnotaplane
Food banks usually buy perishables with the money, they can buy bulk and get it to where it needs to be quickly. They also apparently do not like buying women's products because they are expensive, get zero discounts, and no tax credit on them.
swanglemydangle
Food banks are non profits and wouldn't be subject to sales tax.
TheOneJordan
Every reason for not buying feminine hygiene products is a disgusting inditement on society.
chittychittybangbanglovesustoo
This is annoying as fuck. My grocery store tells me what is needed and most requested items. This comes from the Food Bank. Tell me what you need.
AnythingMuchShorter
Just donate cash, it's far more efficient.
defnotaplane
Sadly some grocery stores advertise items of the best markup, or the slowest moving stock. One had 5 boxes of the same knockoff wheat cereal, 1 box of KD, 4 cans of corn chowder, and a box of low fat, low sugar, bakers chocolate in the "recommended" donate a bag. They had a ton of these bags people could buy and dump in the donation bin.
VoidScreamer
They also make the list of things they can store for a while, and make 1 big donation, so no perishables at all.
theinternetisscary
Often the food bank in my town will have a gathering stand at the supermarkets. They hand out grocery lists so people can buy stuff to donate. The AH will actually have displays with all the cheapest items of a category, so you can just grab some. When you exit the store you can drop off the food you bought for them at the stand.
relsky
This is such a dumb list that's absolutely full of stupidity. They can't make kraft mac because they have no milk, but cereal is a treasure for the kids? Don't donate canned goods because they won't have a can opener? But seeds are great because they apparently have time and space to grow food? Absurd. People generally use food banks to SUPPLEMENT other groceries they buy, generally with WIC. Donate what you have and if you want to go above and beyond, ASK the bank what they need (or volunteer!)
thelovelyLoki
The post said they asked the people actually getting the food. There are plenty of reasons why they might not have a can opener, and different groups of people might have the time and space to grow food. Craft uses both milk and butter, and butter may not be a thing they have or can have if they don't have a fridge. A whole range of people use food banks with diff levels of need
relsky
I know lots of different types of people use food banks, which is why a list purporting to have asked "some people" with 20 different, contradictory answers is nonsense. If people want to help, they need to ask their local food bank, not pay attention to some list on the internet. For example, many food banks simply don't handle perishables like milk, produce, or meat. Or, like I originally said, *go volunteer.*
Dracon27
This list is LITERALLY after asking the food bank what they needed you dolt.
gemaeuer
someone "spoke to people getting food" at one food bank. The author might have just spoken to the only three guys there who do not know about can openers. This is not a comprehensive study. The food banks themself, who operate it for years, should know better than a random "spoke-to-people-guy".
relsky
Exactly.
relsky
They said they asked "some people." I don't really believe whoever made this actually did talk to anyone, but let's take it at face value. It looks like they asked 20 people in need, got 20 different, contradictory answers, then listed those out without further thought. If someone wants to give the right things, they should reach out directly to their local food bank and ask what is needed. For example, some food banks simply don't handle perishables. Or, like I said originally: *go volunteer.*
arumunus
When we had to get donations- there was a muffin mix that only required water. We were ALWAYS on the lookout for that. I wanna say it was Krusteez brand but it was so long ago now.
KatehasaBlog
My city banned plastic bags, so I’m bringing my excess reusable bags because people rarely donate anything to carry the food home with. Emailed them first to check it was needed and they say HECK yes
LongSerpent
On a similar note: When donating clothes, the least-donated but most sought-after items are socks and underwear.
TheNoggle
What in the 'Lil Library But for Food' is this post? Donate cash, dinero, quid, moolah, greenbacks. For every dollar YOU as a consumer spend to buy things that a food bank MIGHT be able to give out, it costs them like 5 cents. Lots of food packaging plants want to donate their unsellables instead of making it into waste, its a win/win for them as they can write it off on taxes, but somebody still has to pay the semi driver to deliver it.
StunttheRunt
For point 1 on there, as a person who in their youth didn't have milk or butter at times, you can indeed make Mac & Cheese with just water. It doesn't taste as good but it's doable if you're in a pinch and hungry.
betwitched
My Mom always just made it with water, never butter or milk
ouroborus777
Yup. I lived for about a year on instant mac & cheese and top ramen. Gotta be careful about how much water you put in though. Otherwise it'll be salty cheese soup with noodles or chewy cheesy noodles with rock salt.
ahorseelbowdeepinme
Omg, a couple of my adopted kids didn't know you were supposed to use milk in mac&cheese and it blew my mind. You really don't know how privileged you are sometimes.
OgreEye
Way I've always made it is just enough water to cover it, add more as necessary, should be almost none at the end. Starch gets super concentrated and holds the sauce together really well. Adding butter makes it better still but I'm often too lazy to do it, and it still tastes real nice.
Snaitf
That's what Easy Mac is, it's exactly the same as the boxed stuff, with only water in the directions, and 4x more expensive. That's why they removed microwave instructions from the box stuff, so ppl will pay the inflated easy mac prices for "convenience".
marquettegoldeneagles
Damn. Shit like this pisses me off. Any way to squeeze every penny out of people struggling. Sigh.
NaughtButOne
I use half a can of cream of mushroom soup. Non-perishable, and you could easily cut it down a bit more to cover 3 boxes of mac & cheese. Covers the dairy aspect and tastes great to boot. If you can swing it, a splash of oil can replace the butter too. It's mostly for texture, but corn or just vegetable oil can give you a lot of calories as well.
NonstopRampage
Hm. Come to think of it, canned cheese soup might be good for noodles, if you don't have milk, butter or even oil.
ThatHappensToMeSometimes
Same for Hamburger Helper. You don’t HAVE to use meat to make it.
StunttheRunt
Yes! Thank you. I didn't want to make my first comment too long as I remember this as well. Mom sometimes put in cauliflower instead of meat. Not too soon or it'd go mushy. Don't know exactly how she did it but it was good but that may just be memories.
ArchMagos
I was like "have you never had Helper for dinner?" Seems like the one who wrote this has some privilege they are unaware of.
TalaayaCosplay
Pro tip: if you have milk, tomato soup and many other soups like split pea are also way better with milk instead of water.
gracefulone
SithElephant
This kinda misses the point on that food banks can often do far better than you at simply purchasing economically in bulk supplies. Donate cash, unless they request otherwise.
Shutupandpour
This! They have about 6x the buying power that we do. And if you put a regular monthly donation on your credit card you don't notice it after a while.
akodorokku
Came here to say this too, the best thing to donate in almost ANY situation is money. The people you give the money too will be able to use it better than the equivalent amount of whatever else you donate.
Mockturtlesoop
Coming to say just this. Can is better because they can make $1 go much further than two 49c great value Mac and cheese boxes
Ghlargh
Not just bulk, they can get special deals on overstock if they promise to give to poor people and not re-sell it. Massive amounts of overstock gets thrown away because selling it at reduced price would mean less full price goods sold. If it can be diverted to consumers that have no purchasing power it won't hurt sales.
tokenhooker
Hi guys. I run a homeless camp outreach in Columbus, Ohio. If you donate to me in the months of Nov and Dec, every single penny goes towards gas in my big van to drive people from the street to a warming station. Venmo is goldheartoutreach. Thanks for the smallest of anything. I can provide 501(c)3 stuff if you'd like a tax donation.
080080
this is correct, but the ambivalence behind donating money is the risk of corruption at the charitable org. the org would need a sterling reputation, transparency and strong internal controls, otherwise you can't be sure that your money didn't just go into someone's pocket.
SithElephant
Measuring efficiency is hard. An organisation can easily be 99% efficient at providing food to people while a similar sounding organisation may be 25%, measured by spending on food and budget. However, if the first is ordering UberEats to people, and the second has a kitchen and is distributing meals, they may actually be providing far more food, though being 'inefficient'
One8updude
Thanks for taking care of making this point.
stingingnettlegurlL7
I was going to say that. Sour work donates our time and one day our department chose a food bank. They explained that for every $1 donated they can get $3 or food.
mikeatike
Sour work?
TheNoggle
The assumption I'm going with is 'Our', with autocorrect somehow deciding sour was a better fit for some reason.
Emuc64
That makes much more sense. I read "Sour work" as a donation program.
mikeatike
Maybe they work for Willy Wonka.
TheChunguskaEvent
I donate cash. The food banks know what they need better than I do and can often get much more for the money.
HeadJamistan
Absolutely this.
TripUpStairs
Wonderful you are able to do that. They buy at a discount, so donating cash is great.
AnythingMuchShorter
It's easier to do anyway. It's easier to give them money than to buy a large amount of the things listed and drop it off. And like you said they can buy in bulk cheaper, and do it where and when they need it.
jadanks
Same they have much better logistics and way more buying power. Every dollar you donate to them goes further than just buying food and donating it yourself. But both are equally good things to do.
werrywerry
But if you give the food bank money it will spend it all on alcohol /s (It annoys the shit out of me that this /s is necessary but I assure, it fucking is!)
Jordan7831
Same here. With the caveat that the food bank has a good rating and isn’t spending all their cash on admin costs. There are sites that will analyze charities depending on your country
FractalChainsaw
Can you link a few examples of these sites?
Tarmaccian
Charity Navigator is what I’ve used most.
Jordan7831
https://www.charityintelligence.ca/index.php if you’re in Canada like I am
horseWnoname
cake mix needs oil too, see #5
ahorseelbowdeepinme
Do all of them need oil?
BlindGardener
Oil is a cornerstone of human cooking. Every culture on earth, from the Aboriginal Australians to the Native Alaskans to the uyghur people and the Tutsi uses some form of oil in their cooking. Make of that what you will. (Two other cornerstones of cooking are salt and fermentation)
ahorseelbowdeepinme
Right... but do all instant cake mixes require oil? Not a big cake guy myself but i think I've made a box mix cake before and didn't require oil. I'm also on a fixed income and a geographical bachelor at the moment and I don't have oil in the pantry. That isn't to say oil isn't a cornerstone. I'm sure oil is already in some of the food I'm making.
BlindGardener
The majority require oil, generally you have to be specifically looking to find ones that don't. I've made a few instant cake mixes in my life, and I'd say it's between two thirds and three quarters that call for butter or oil. I remember that microwave cake mix in specific almost never calls for oil, however.
BlindGardener
(Some of them are sneaky and call for 'whole milk' or 'cream' which have oil in them)
professionallazyperson
I wish I was a billionaire and could just pay for all of the things people need with my vast wealth. Just buy all the butter and oil the food bank needs. I wonder how much money it would take to solve this problem.
servingmytimeinusersub
One does not get to be a billionaire with that mindset.
TezuNii
Depends on your scale. Internationally, it would be multiple billions every month.
professionallazyperson
Bjorn Lomberg has a great book on this subject. $75 billion might be a lot for one person, but it’s actually pathetically small when it comes to the GDP of most western countries: https://www.amazon.com/Spend-Billion-World-Better-Place/dp/1940003032
NonstopRampage
The solution at that scale, with that money, is scholarships/sponsorships. For as scummy and self-serving as that tactic can be, it can also provide people with goals, a sense of accomplishment, and a tangible way to give back to your benefactor for their generosity. Personally, I see that as a win-win. You invest in them, and they build on your ability to help others. You get an asset, and they get their lives back.
professionallazyperson
Nutrition is important for brain development at a young age, so the food bank thing actually kind of goes along these same lines. But I get your point. Help people improve themselves and be healthy so they can in turn help those around them, who can then help those around them, and so on and so forth. Everyone benefits. It’s just that those with the most money and power could have the biggest impact, help the most people in the least amount of time, if they chose to.