Best National Food Banks For Donations
There is a lot going on in the world right now, and there has never been a better time to donate to a food bank or hunger-based charitable organization, national or local. There is so much information floating around regarding how people can help in a times such as these, and while most of these forms of outreach are demonstrating the good in the world, it is important to donate to official, reliable, responsible organizations that have a long running history of meeting their mission and goals. While we certainly dont want to tell you how or where to donate your money, the Honor Society Foundation has done some careful research into the top ranked national, charitable food organizations for you, as a place to start :
Meals on Wheels America
Meals on Wheels delivers warm, nutritious meals to homebound senior citizens who can no longer cook for themselves. But it is also an opportunity to offer those who are alone a bit of company, address any safety issues, and even provide holistic care. With almost 1 million volunteers, MOW is active in all 50 states and the U.S. territories.
Feeding America
Feed the Children
Action Against Hunger USA
Action Against Hunger has been committed to ending world hunger for nearly 40 years spanning almost 50 countries. Continuously exploring how to solve the hunger problem, the organization saves the lives of children and their families through detection, prevention, and treatment, particularly after a disaster strikes.
How Can You Best Support These Charities
After youve made your decision, its time for you to decide on how youd like to help the charities youve chosen. Check how you can help each charity runs specific programs that have unique aims. Find out what the aim of such programs is and whether they are right for you.
Here are a few ways you can help your chosen charity:
The Best Foods For Food Donations
- Rowan University
- Wine School of Philadelphia
There are a lot of food drives during the holidays. What food banks need most is cash, but when the Scouts come knocking at your door collecting food or you’re asked to bring a non-perishable item as entrance to the schools holiday concert, food is in order.
NPR did a piece on the types of pantry staples that can help those who rely on food banks to build healthy meals. Food banks say the focus should be on on whole, unprocessed or minimally processed foods to help people create healthy meals. Instead of donating foods that are high in salt, sugar and highly processed grains, bring foods that are high in protein, healthy fats and whole grains instead.
Also Check: St. Mary’s Food Bank Drop Off Locations
What Items Make The Best Food Bank Donations
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TORONTO More Canadians are using food banks, but whats available to eat doesnt always meet the need.
Yet hunger doesnt take a holiday.
People do often think about supporting their local food bank or making extra donations of food or money or volunteering around Thanksgiving, the Christmas and holiday periods, and theyre not often thinking about that all year-round, says Katharine Schmidt, executive director of Food Banks Canada.
We find that food banks are struggling more through the spring and summer because of that. The demand doesnt go down and yet the support can really fluctuate.
How You Can Help
We accept cash, cheque, credit and debit at our Winston St Main Office Monday to Friday 8:30am-4:30pm:
- Cheques should be made payable to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank and can be mailed to our Main Office at 8345 Winston St, Burnaby, BC, V5A 2H3.
- Cash will need to be dropped off at our Main Office.
- To donate with your credit card – click on Donate Now or call 604-876-3601 dial 2.
Raise Money – Virtual Food Drive
Our Virtual Food Drive is a fantastic engagement tool where teams can compete to raise money for the GVFB. Safe, secure, and hassle-free, the VFD enables you to collect monetary donations through your customized website. Double your donations by asking your company to match funds raised, to show support for a cause that is important to you and your team!
A Gift in Your Will
Leaving a gift in your will for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank has a tremendous impact, and supports our vision of providing healthy food to those in need. If you would like more information, click on the link below to learn more.
Recommended Reading: Food Bank Of The Southern Tier Mobile Food Pantry Schedule
Food Banks Food Rescues And Distribution Organizations
This group includes food banks and pantries, often operating on limited schedules, food rescue organizations that collect surplus foodstuffs, and those that simply provide a distribution frameworks. All can use volunteers sometimes volunteering can be as simple as sitting at home and making phone calls, or helping make deliveries and, perhaps more important, donations of money, food, or other goods.
Rethink: This nonprofit helps feed the hungry through Rethink Certified, a nationwide program that connects restaurant partners to community-based organizations, a donation-based cafe that offers meals for a suggested price of $5, and a food truck that travels to four locations in Brooklyn and Queens.
Food Bank for New York City: One of the oldest and largest food banks in the city, this organization works with hundreds of soup kitchens, food pantries, and senior centers to provide food to those in need. The organization has come up with a handy map that helps users locate places to get food across all five boroughs.
City Harvest: The organization reportedly feeds 1.2 million New Yorkers and rescues more than 70 million pounds of food each year, which is then diverted to hundreds of food pantries and soup kitchens across the city. City Harvest has its own interactive map to identify food distribution sites across the city.
Use Social Media To Fight Hunger
You can also support food banks at the click of a button. Follow your local food bank on social media. Like their posts, comment and share them, suggestions Jeff. Hunger is often misunderstood, so the more we share information about hunger and the more we engage other people, the better. And thats something we can all do.
One more suggestion: research what resources are available and share that information with your local network. Because of the hidden nature of hunger, you might not know if a friend or neighbor is struggling with food insecurity. And, due to the pandemic, a lot of people are dealing with food insecurity for the first time and dont know where to go for help. Sharing out resources in a supportive, non-judgmental way can make a world of difference.
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Directly To Your Local Food Bank
Find your nearest food bank by .
Once youve been shown your local food bank, you can click on the local website for that food bank, showing you the times when theyre open for donations.
Most importantly, each food bank keeps their site updated regarding which items they have enough of, and which items they are in urgent need of. If youre planning on donating and havent gone out to buy the items yet check your local food banks website first to find out what these urgently needed items are.
Foodus Food Banks Struggle To Feed Hungry Amid Surging Prices
In many ways, the little pantries expand the social contacts for people in the community, she explained. If you are feeding people, you know who is in need, and that means you can use your own social contacts to help people right there, without paperwork and bureaucracy.
Food insecurity is a lack of consistent access to enough food for every person within a home to live, and because many hungry households do not qualify for federal nutrition programs, they rely solely on local food banks for survival.
Feeding America, the nations largest hunger-relief organization with 200 food banks across the country, estimates that 42 million people in the United States, including 13 million children, will experience food insecurity this year.
Also Check: Atlanta Community Food Bank Donations
Why Donate To Food Banks Specifically
âFood banks generally are very efficient in their logistics processes, affording the food industry a one-stop place for donations that they can trust will be handled with best-in-class food safety considerations,â says Michael Guerra, chief development officer for the San Antonio Food Bank in Texas. âFood banks also work to equitably distribute donated food to local nonprofits that have food as a part of their missionâfood pantries, shelters, soup kitchens, etc.â And, he adds, food banks are often the primary organization in a community that aims at minimizing food insecurity among low-income households and under-resourced households in that community.
In addition to providing food, Guerra says most food banks also provide nutritional education and access to public safety programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program .
What To Donate To A Food Bank
While food banks always provide a minimum of three days’ worth of nutritionally balanced, non-perishable tinned and dried foods, what you should donate to a food bank differs depending on where you are – and what food bank you’re donating to.
Typically food banks are looking for donations of food products from supermarkets, such as:
- Cereal
- UHT milk
- Fruit juice
Lots of food banks will also offer essential non-food items , such as toiletries and hygiene products.
However, because the supplies to food banks differ between areas, its important to check with your local food bank what kind of supplies theyre most in need of at the moment. An easy way to do this is to use the search box at the bottom of this page , underneath Items to donate. It will tell you the products and food items that your local food bank is in need of at the moment.
If you are in the position to donate to a local food bank, now is the time to do so, with more people needing their services every day.
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Which Charities Give The Least To The Cause
Here are some of the worst offenders:Kids Wish Network.Cancer Fund of America.Children’s Wish Foundation International.American Breast Cancer Foundation.Firefighters Charitable Foundation.Breast Cancer Relief Foundation.International Union of Police Associations, AFL-CIO.National Veterans Service Fund.More items…Feb 28, 2022
What Impact Means For Charitiesand For Your Donations
Some charities create a lot of change with the donations given to them. Others have almost nothing to show for the money coming from donors, says Greg Thomson, director of research at Charity Intelligence , a non-profit that helps Canadians make informed giving decisions.
Indeed, there are charities that can take a $100-donation and turn it into nearly $700 worth of value for the people it supports and society at large. For example, a charity that helps at-risk teens could provide a sizable financial benefit to the youth who use its programs , as well as to the greater community through costs savings to the public health-care and shelter systems.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are charities that destroy value, perhaps producing just $40 worth of measurable change from the same $100-donation because of spending too much in relation to the benefit they create. For example, charities that grant wishes to critically ill children often spend upwards of $25,000 per child, but the value provided to the child and their family is much lower, says Thomson.
Recommended Reading: Second Harvest Food Bank Phone Number
What Do Food Banks Need At Christmas
Festive treats are appreciated as food donations at food banks during the Christmas holidays particularly Christmas pudding, as it often comes with a long-life use by date. The Trussell Trust recommends non-alcoholic puddings.
Chocolate coins and Christmas dinner non-perishables such as tinned pies, vegetables, condiments, and gravy are all appreciated this time of year. Festive treats for those who can’t afford them at this time of year are welcome.
Related features:
Looking For A Convenient Place In Your Neighborhood To Drop Off Your Food Donation To The Food Bank All San Antonio Area Goodwill Stores And Donation Centers Have A San Antonio Food Bank Red Barrel For Your Non
For questions regarding individual and group food donations, please contact:
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The San Antonio Food Bank is a 501 non-profit organization providing millions of pounds of food to more than 500 charitable organizations in Southwest Texas serving those in need. In addition to food distribution, the San Antonio Food Bank provides numerous programs that not only solve the immediate problems of hunger, but help individuals and families gain long-term food security.
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The San Antonio Food Bank values the privacy of our donors and does not copy, reproduce, publish, post, distribute, share or sell, the name, personal contact information or description of donors to any outside individual or business. Exceptions are those required by law, requested in grant applications or in connection with bank credit or debit card transactions made with prior knowledge or consent of the donor.
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Campaign To End Hunger
Today, over 180,000 Mainers rely on Good Shepherd Food Bank and its network of partners and nearly 30% of these citizens are children.
Our mission is simple: by 2025, all those struggling with hunger will have access to the nutritious food they need to thrive, when and where they need it. We want to raise $250 million to make that a reality.
Working with food donors, philanthropic supporters, and local partners across the state, we will help reduce the impact of hunger in our state and make Maine a stronger, better place to work and live.
Donate Your Time: Volunteer At A Food Bank
In addition to food and financial donations, you have a precious resource that all food banks need your time! Food banks and pantries rely heavily on volunteers for their day-to-day operations.
Best of all, there are lots of different ways you can lend a helping hand depending on your skill set, physical abilities and schedule availability. Although the pandemic has impacted many food banks, most have found ways to allow volunteers to work safely, with proper health and social distancing precautions.
“We have made some big shifts in regards to our volunteer program here at Second Harvest, shared Jeff. We have volunteers ensure that they are healthy before they arrive. They use hand sanitizer and we make sure they have masks on. We keep everybody six feet apart. Were really thinking about how we can limit exposure to COVID-19 amongst our volunteer group and our staff. We have very strict protocols.
A common need among food banks is for volunteers to process incoming donations and pack distribution boxes. This involves light lifting and a little bit of walking, but generally is not physically intensive work. Typical activities might be checking incoming produce, sorting donations, separating bulk foods into individual or family servings, packing an assortment of foods and supplies in individual- and family-sized boxes and distributing those boxes at contactless pick-up sites.
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What Kind Of Food Pantry Items Should You Donate
Food banks usually accept dry and canned foods. Any non-perishable food can be kept in the pantry for a long time without going bad. Keep in mind that you donate food that has not reached its expiration date yet.
Food items like peanut butter, pasta, canned soup, canned fish, canned beans, and canned vegetables are the best options to donate. Foodbank and clients regularly need such items. Some foodbanks accept other household items as well. You should check your local food bank to get recommendations specific to your area. However, a general list can be made:
- Serials and oatmeal
- Pasta sauce
- Chicken, beef
Food banks or food pantries are non-profit organizations, so they depend on peoples generosity to provide food for the weaker sections of society. Some food pantries accept fresh vegetables and food, but canned types are always preferred when it comes to food pantry items. You should donate powdered milk instead of milk because it is easy to transport. Grain products are usually considered the best choice for donations.
Some foodbanks also accept many non-food items like toiletries . Whenever food banks require donations, they call for it. If you are willing to donate, you should always check different food banks online websites to get notified.
Your Donations Make A Difference
You may not see the direct effects, but your donations make a huge difference to the many people who use or rely on food banks or soup kitchens.
If you donate at your local supermarket to a Trussell Trust food bank, your donations will form part of a food parcel that provides at-risk families with enough food for at least three days of healthy, balanced meals.
These parcels change peoples lives. Your act of kindness greatly impacts peoples futures. In addition, if you buy products by a brand that supports a social cause such as us at Integritty Foods who promise to give a soup to a person in need for every soup we sell you can have an even greater effect.
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How To Qualify For A Food Bank
Food banks are designed to provide short-term, emergency support with food during a crisis. They aim to relieve that immediate pressure by providing food, but also offer additional support so that people dont need to use the food bank again in the future.
You may get a food bank referral if:
- You have been made redundant or have reduced working hours.
- Unexpected bills have left you with no money.
- A change in your circumstances has affected your entitlement to benefit or has reduced the amount you receive.
- A payment of benefit has been delayed.
There are a number of food banks who do not need a referral and may not ask about your personal circumstances they rely on trust that you would only use the food bank if you were in need.