An Afternoon at the Food Bank

Yesterday I went to drop off the food that was collected at Bethlehem on Sunday.  The Sunday School set a goal of 102 non-perishable food items for the food bank at Redding Social Services to be collected on Rally Day.  That goal was met and exceeded with 117 food items.

To give you some perspective on how much is 117 food items, they filled the back section of my little Honda Fit, was about 12 reusable grocery bags full, would have filled a shopping cart and that is about 5 items per person who was in attendance at our small congregation on Sunday.

Now I love going to RSS.  Actually it is a lot of fun to go anywhere where  you come in with a large check or car full of items and just drop them off.  But I particularly enjoy RSS because I have gotten to know the staff fairly well as the workers are a group of talkers.  And I have been able to discuss ideas with them, issues that have come up and just gotten to know the community better through them.

So yesterday when I pull up to RSS, the woman who runs the food pantry was busy sorting a bunch of food that came in earlier in the week.  By law food pantries are not allowed to give away food that is expired even though it is still perfectly good.  Now most people when donating to a food pantry either go out and buy food specifically for the food pantry or they take items in their cupboards that they bought just a few weeks ago and donate those items.  However a few people take a donation as a time to clear out their cabinets of food that they never got around to eating, which leads to some interesting donations.

Among some of the items that were in the expired plied were:  6 LARGE boxes of pasta salad, baker's chocolate, frosting, an open partially used jug of laundry detergent and wait for it......smoked salmon!  Yes someone donated (expired) smoked salmon to the food pantry.  So this lead to an interesting conversation about weird things people have donated to the food pantry.  (And this might help you understand the wealth that does exist in Redding.)  The weirdest thing the food pantry coordinator has ever seen:  Oysters!

So of course now I want to donate a jar of caviar.

But what does the food pantry need and what does the food pantry not need?

• Overall most food pantries get a lot of mac & cheese and canned vegetables so maybe skip these the next time you shop for a donation.
• Soups, especially in winter, are appreciated, but make sure they are real soups that you eat as soup and not like cream of mushroom (seriously who eats cream of mushroom other than in a casserole/hot dish?)
• Fruits go quickly and there never seems to be enough
• Cleaning supplies are always in need an don't go bad so there is no chance that they will end up in the trash
• Personal toiletries are also always needed: shampoos, soap, tampons, body wash

And two general rules:

1. If you don't want to eat it, neither do the people who use the food pantry
2. Make sure the item is not expired (dates are printed on most cans, jars and boxes) and not opened.  While you may feel good about giving food away, they will just end up in the trash.  
3. Also when given the option, a monetary donation is better.  Most food pantries have "professional shoppers" and get special discounts at many grocery stores so they can often purchase twice as much food  or more than you can with the same amount of money.  

Most food pantries shelves are barren by the end of summer and remain sparse until Thanksgiving, so please take some time to help restock those shelves.