Why I Don’t Donate to Food Pantry’s
Over the years I have met hundreds of amazing people that work at organizations that give back to society. What I have learned along the way has made me stop donating to food pantry’s and toy drives. The cold hard truth that is seldom ever mentioned is this. The organization that receives all your hard earned donations may be just tossing them in a dumpster at the end of the day.
Many times organizations receive items they can not use or have too much of the same thing. The items sit on the shelf and expire before getting handed out and end up being thrown away. A while back a “representative” from a local organization on the North Shore contacted me to ask me to tell my readers to stop donating a large list of specific products. They stated they did not need or want this items and that they had started tossing them in the trash because they just did not have the need for them.
Years ago a local real estate agency was having a teddy bear drive for children in crisis. The thought of a child not having a teddy bear to hug and hold tight when everything else in their world was falling apart pulled at my heart strings. I went out and purchased a few teddy bears for their collection box and started to looked for other ways to help. I was able to locate a way to get a large supply of teddy bears (for free). I decided to reach out directly to my connection at the children’s organization that was receiving the teddy bears to arrange a direct drop off. I was told that they had received so many bears that they did not need anymore and that because they received so many that they had just tossed the last collection in a dumpster.
You all have seen stories of Toys for Tots doing toy drives for children in need and every year they are always saying they don’t have enough toys. Although that may be the case in some locations I know first hand that is not the case in all locations. One year a police station in NH had amassed so many toys from the toy drive that they realized they had more than needed. Instead of giving the kids in need a few extras or sharing with surrounding community’s one of the higher ups at the police station decided to provide a full fledge Christmas to her brothers family. She hand picked the best of the toys, including electronics, bikes and Legos and delivered them to her nephews prior to giving them to the intended recipients.
Although these three instances may not be the norm it has changed my outlook on things and made me come up with my own personal philosophy which is simply just this, start close to home. Next time you have items to donate start in your own neighborhood. Look for a senior citizen in your neighborhood to share with. Most seniors are living on very limited income and often have to choose whether to turn the heat up or skip a meal. Look for a veteran, a young mom or a struggling family trying to make ends meet. Start your generosity closest to home and watch it spread out from there. Chances are you have neighborhood around you filled with people that could use some help. Some may be to proud or stubborn to ask for help from local organizations but would be ever so grateful for your random acts of kindness. Your kindness and generosity given personally and one on one can be life changing for all involved.
Don’t get me wrong. I believe food pantry’s are a great resource for people in need and are often run and supported by wonderful people. However, I do believe it only band aids something that could be a long term problem in some circumstances. If all the agencies could invest some of their fund raising efforts to actually teach each member how to use coupons, budget and shop wisely they could see a higher rate of overall success. Donating to a pantry or collection drive helps provide a temporary fix to a problem that may not heal any time soon. Taking the time to help a neighbor will do much more than that. Once you start helping someone one on one that needs help you will see what the power of generosity can do , not only for them but for you. Paying it forward is the ultimate coupon high and once you get a taste of it you will want more. You will find yourself wanting to do more give more and teach more. This is an empowering change that you may not be able to experience at a local pantry drop off location. You will be hands on with individuals in your community. You will be able to start teaching someone that is struggling find ways to provide for themselves. The person receiving your donations may eventually be able to learn how to provide for themselves and eventually be able to pay it forward. The ultimate full circle.
You have the power to change the world.
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
If you do decide to donate to a collection drive our food pantry here are some tips;
Go direct to the source.
Although many organizations hearts are in the right place when they start a food drive or toy drive there may not be the need for the items they are collecting. Before donating or starting your own collection drive find out what agency the items are being donated to and call that agency directly to get the facts.
Here are some questions you may want to ask:
- What there specific needs are
- Is there anything they are not accepting
- What do they do with the excess donations
- Are they a non profit
- Do they plan on doing any classes to help teach their client
I have been considered low income status the majority of my life. I grew up in a low income family in Chelsea, MA. I struggled as a young divorced single mother in my early twenties and I continued to struggle to make ends meet once I remarried. Brian and I had 4 kids to feed and not much income coming from his paycheck. Coupons have changed my life. If I had only known then what I knew know life would have been that much less of a struggle. Help somebody that is struggling by sharing what you know now!
I totally disagree with your theory of NoT donating to food pantries. I have volunteered at the Food care center I’m at for over 10 years. We never ever have leftovers from a day our pantry is open in fact we run short of food items daily. Just yesterday 12/01/2017 we serviced over 500 ppl! That is a lot of ppl and food, yes we get donations from the local businesses but never enough for the daily average of 209 ppl.
So please please donate to your local food pantry, church or organization that is helping your community out you may never know it maybe needing their assistance one day and be denied food due to not having enough!!!
I work in community mental and behavior health and I teach clients couponing. I’m one of 12 children and we learned at a young age. I donate to our clients without them knowing it’s from me. We signed up 15 kids for toys for tots and there was nothing new. I thought it was all throw away old used toys. I went shopping and purchased toys for the kids on Saturday. What I did find out was that the newer toys we see on the news for toys for tots primarily go to military service children and foster children. I think going forward staff will all donate $5.00 per paycheck and we will do our own Christmas toy shopping. I think it’s a shame that less fortunate children were excluded from getting new toys or even a bicycle. This was my first experience of actually seeing what children were receiving and why they received the used toys. I will no longer donate to them.
I am leery of donating to organizations. I guess I always think of scenarios where the people at the organizations–food pantry–toy drives–pick the best for themselves and pass on the leftovers. It is hard to be able to tell which organization is the most deserving.
Sooo—I donate to friends and neighbors that are struggling, instead of a tip I provide workers at my home with a bag full of goodies, and for Christmas I give my co-workers goodie bags. I also provide goodie bags to college bound students.
I love to give and I love to shop. I am always looking for items my kids can use and friends need. Once in a while I sell my stock (minimally) for no more than the cost of the item plus tax. But I find that my friends and neighbors are so thankful that they give me gift cards and/or money and/or more coupons so I can continue shopping the way I do.
I will donate to the local thrift store (clothes and house items)that are still usable but nobody I know needs. I also will donate to a local food pantry food that will expire before I can use it.
I find shopping to be my stress reliever (most of the time).
I’m very sad to read this ! As you know I work for DCF and i have never thrown anything away! I always find a home for toys, bears, coats, clothes etc. and although food isnt something we usually do I’ll find a home
For that. Nothing is ever tossed in a dumpster !
Although I do think it is great to donate to food banks, I do love the idea of looking around you of who could be in need, especially the elderly, they often don’t know where to get help or are ashamed.
I donate to our local soup kitchen. I have found out how many they feed daily. I also asked for a wish list. I was shocked to find out how much volunteers working there put out of pocket every week because they do not get enough donations. Their wish list included laundry soap to wash tea towels wash cloths aprons pot holders. Dish soap to wash dishes. Spray cleaners to wash counters and tables. Toilet bowl cleaner, bathroom cleaners. I have volunteered a few days since requesting a wish list. I wanted to see who we were feeding. Out of the 62 who eat there almost everyday 41 of them are over 72 years old. Have vision or mobility issues and live alone. 4 of them are paraplegic. 6 have severe learning disabilities and can not cook for safety reasons. Three are drivers who spend hours picking up and dropping off those who need to come. The other 8 are just very lonely people who come so they do not have to spend their entire alone. Some days their donations were so meager they would have a soup mostly brother and a sandwich made with whatever they could come up with. I now coupon for them and thranks to Driscoll who gives me coupons every month and our buy one get free deals they always have fresh fruit. It may only be a few strawberries over a shortbread. Blackberry cobbler or blueberry pancakes but they get fruit. Thanks to giant gas deals I get things like syrup, cooking oil, peanut butter I have to buy gas anyway I just take my gas money buy groceries then use points for my free gas. ( I have gotten pretty good using the gas cans ). Coupons like mighty Sparks and Perdue means there is at least meat in their soups and sandwich now. I say do not quit donating but let’s do more then donate. VOLUNTEER a few hours and find out what is needed.
I so much love what you write and do here, excellent job! And I agree with you about start giving people in need near you, in person. I am also planning to take some stuff to a homeless shelter near me. And yes, giving back to those in need is the final high of the couponing, Great job Kathy!
Thanks for commenting on this Lila : )
100% agree with you to start local and with people who are within your reach. I no longer donate to pantries due to the local ones treating people I know quite poorly who were genuinely in need of help. Volunteers overstepping their boundaries and putting their nose where it doesn’t belong. I’d much rather just help people directly with my donations and cut out the middle man.
The pandemic has changed everything these winter storm had changed everything people.gas lost jobs and homes do donations are needed no need to throw away that’s the reason why people dumpster dive do technically things aren’t going to waste they are being used.