The following guidelines can help you decide what to donate to a food drive or food pantry:
1. Consider a cash donation. Cash is useful to food banks and food pantries as they can generally buy quantities of food for less. They can also buy the items most needed by their clients.
2. It is important that donated food be safe and nutritious as possible rather than just what is in the back of your cupboard. In other words, don’t just “clean out your pantry”... donate food that meets their specific guidelines.
3. Purchase food specifically for the food drive using the organization's list, or think about what foods other families like yours might like to eat. Also keep in mind that food pantry and food bank recipients range in age from infants to elderly residents.
4. Donate retail-sized food containers. In other words, the size of items you’d pick up at your local grocery store for yourself or family. (not trial size or warehouse store size)
5. Donate food that is in its original package with the label intact — unopened and not damaged.
6. Do not donate food that is past its “best by,” “use by,” or “sell by” date. Although some food is still safe to consume after these dates it is best practice not to donate them.
7. If canned food has a sharp dent, a dent deep enough to rest a finger in, severe rust pits, swollen or bulging ends or any evidence of leaking, the food is unsafe to eat and should be discarded and not donated. Canned vegetables and meats with any size dent should be thrown away.
8. Because of the risk of botulism in improperly home-canned food and the large variation in the level of safety of the methods used by home canners, food banks and food pantries do not accept any home-canned goods.
If you have any questions about this or would like to organize a food drive for Agape Center Lynchburg, please feel free to reach out to us and ask:
contact@agapelyh.org
#fooddrive #foodpantry #donate #community #agapelyh #agapecenterlynchburg
--
1moI have an interest in being a part of Catholic Charities. I am retired and have extensive experience in strategic planning and strategy implementation. I have worked in 35 different countries around the workd. I live in the Dallas , Texas area and a member of Saint Jude Catholic Church.