Quick And Professional Response
We can respond quickly, usually by the next business day. Pallet exchange can be provided. We have a fleet of dock high, refrigerated vehicles and full-time drivers. Our warehouse has a 600+ pallet capacity, with a 130+ pallet drive-in freezer and 60+ pallet drive-in cooler. A team of community volunteers inspect, clean, sort, label, and repack donations.
Operation Santa Claus Call For Sponsors And Donors
CONCORD State employees are gearing up for the 62nd consecutive year of organizing Operation Santa Claus, a statewide program that coordinates with the Department of Health & Human Services to provide gifts for children receiving state services.
Now in its 62nd year, Operation Santa Claus serves more than 3,000 children across the state with more than 500,000 gifts. Dozens of retirees and volunteers from different state agencies work around the clock starting in the late summer months to ensure a successful year for OSC, founded by the State Employees Association in 1960. The success of this program is made possible with generous donations and sponsorships from members of the State Employees Association, the National Guard, community volunteers, and of course, anyone who wishes to help.
With fewer funds and more needy children, donations are more impactful than ever. Therefore, new sponsorships are being requested if you are interested in sponsoring a child, direct contributions are best and can be made by visiting the State Employees Association website at .
For more information on the Operation Santa Claus project, visit or www.operationsantanh.org. Help make this Christmas season memorable for New Hampshires children and families.
Collection For The Homeless
ROCHESTER The Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce is collecting items to benefit the Homeless Center of Strafford County. Items being collected include new books for children ages 8-17, new puzzles for children ages 12-plus, toilet paper and paper towels. A full list of items needed is available at the Chamber office. Items may be brought to the Chamber office now through Dec. 17, and a collection sleigh will be available at the Tree Lighting on Dec. 3, in the vicinity of the Parson Main statue. For more information please contact the Chamber office at 603-332-5080 or visit: www.rochesternh.org.
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Does The Food Bank Sell Food
The Regional Food Bank does not, and in fact cannot, sell the donated food it receives. Moreover, the local food pantries and soup kitchens cannot charge the hungry people they serve for this food. The Food Bank does ask the agencies that receive food to cooperate in the support of the Food Bank by contributing a shared maintenance fee of 16¢ per pound for about half of the food they receive. Some food, such as produce, is provided to all agencies free of charge.
Anyone Can Be A Food Donor
Anyone can donate food, including farmers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, restaurants, cafeterias, hotels, cruise ships, and households, just to name a few.
- EPAs Excess Food Opportunities Map is an interactive tool that displays the locations of nearly 1.2 million potential industrial, commercial and institutional excess food generators and more than 4,000 potential recipients.
- Gleaning is the collection of excess fresh foods from farms, gardens, farmers markets, and other sources to provide it to those in need. Typically, volunteers partner with a farm to glean excess fresh produce and deliver it to a food bank or food pantry. Learn how to develop a successful gleaning program with this USDA toolkit .
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Does The Regional Food Bank Purchase Food
The Food Bank operates a cooperative buying program for its member agencies, where we purchase needed items in large quantities and then resell the food to the member agencies. Our Coop Program helps supplement our donated food inventory, enabling the Food Bank to meet most of the food needs of its member agencies. Monetary donations to the Regional Food Bank are not used to purchase food, but to underwrite the costs of transporting, storing, and distributing donated food, which is why every dollar donated lets the Regional Food Bank distribute $10 worth of food!
How To Volunteer At Food Banks
Food bank volunteers are needed to help out in many different ways at food banks. There is a wide variety of volunteer work, from delivering meals to helping with bookkeeping. If youre searching for ways to give back to your community, here are a few more prevalent ones.
It is important to build separate profiles when signing up to volunteer. Find a food bank that needs volunteers and sign up for their service that works with your schedule. In this manner, you may plan ahead of time and be available when it is most needed. If you want to know when and where you can volunteer, visit their website. There are many options, so keep looking.
Volunteers are needed at food banks to help with various activities, including assembling meal kits, making phone calls to those in need, and running errands. Volunteers could assist with specialized chores like sewing masks, distributing fliers, or creating social support calls. However, the majority of the labor is done in an anonymous capacity. Another option is to show up at an event and provide assistance. If you want to help at a food bank but arent sure youre up to the challenge, check out their website first.
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Where To Donate Canned Foods
If youve got extra food crowding your pantry, you might be looking for a way to offload it to a worthy cause.
Whether youre moving house, doing some spring cleaning, or looking for a way to help end food insecurity in your community, youve likely turned to Google to find the best canned food donation centers near me or something like that.
In your search, you might have discovered that many food banks and donation centers have phased out the idea of donating canned food in favor of accepting cash. To avoid wasting more of your valuable time, check out this list of the top places to donate canned food in your area.
Send A Letter To The Editor To Your Local Newspaper
Congresspeople read the newspapers in their home states and districts to keep up on what their constituents care about, so getting a letter to the editor or an op-ed published in a local paper is one of the most effective ways of getting their attention, Teller explains.
Write a short letter spotlighting the problem of food insecurity in your area and how continuing boosts to SNAP or other benefits, like child nutrition programs, could help. As with to a direct letter to your congressperson, stories about real people are best, Teller says.
Take action:Visit your local papers website to find out how to make a submission.
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What Type Of Food Is Donated To The Food Bank
Most food donations come from the food industry. There are many reasons why products are donated. They may be mislabeled, overproduced, test -market items and products with short code dates.
The Food Bank also salvages products. The dented cans and crumpled boxes that are pushed aside at the grocery store can be cleaned and sorted by volunteers to provide food pantries and soup kitchens with a variety of food and household products. USDA government foods are also donated by the federal government and made available to agencies. We sometimes have to purchase food with donated dollars as well.
Emotional Health And Physical Health Go Hand
Being a part of Bucks County community service efforts does both the mind and body good. Its a unique opportunity to meet others, learn more about the struggles your community is facing, and help do your part to give back. To learn more about how you can get involved, contact United Way of Bucks County today!
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How Does Donating To United Way Help My Community
Of all the things you could spend your money on, after food and rent or mortgage, after clothes and toilet paper, even after spending a few bucks on the fun things in life, you still feel like your money could go further. Maybe you see suffering or struggle in your community and you wonder how you can help.
Giving to charity, even just a few dollars, can make an enormous difference in any of the small communities that make up the Upper Ohio Valley. From Brooke to Ohio county and beyond, giving your money to the United Way of the Upper Ohio Valley is the single most effective use of your money.
Donors are often curious about how United Way makes a positive difference in our community. Just as you are careful with how you spend your money, were just as careful with money donated to us.
These are our priorities when determining which programs to support:
- Improving health outcomes for people of all ages
- Expanding access to educational opportunities
- Strengthening financial stability for individuals and families
Read on for more information about how YOU can get involved in the United Way allocations process!
Donate Food To Your Local Food Pantry
While financial contributions are most effective, if what people can give is food, then give that food. Because that is always appreciated, Fitzgerald says. Think shelf-stable dried and canned goodspantry staples like beans, rice, pasta, soup, peanut butter, cerealthat you buy at the store or have sitting in your cupboards . Our advice would be to give what you would want to eat, Fitzgerald says. Since food banks are generally set up to receive large-scale donations, youll likely want to bring the goods to a food pantry near you.
Take action:your local food pantry for information on what, where, and when to make food donations.
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Pick A Local Group That Needs Food
Consider both the obvious and the less obvious . If you want suggestions on food organizations in need, start by contacting your local food bank. Youll find them listed online at www.feedingamerica.org
Food banks and pantries are all different, so before you start planning, be sure to reach out to learn the best way to meet their needs.
Food banks are warehouses that collect large quantities of food to distribute to local food pantries, soup kitchens, etc. The food bank itself may be interested in benefiting from your drive. Or, they may suggest a local food organization in your neighborhood.
Once youve determined what organization will benefit from your drive, use the questions in the Tips for Meeting an Organization’s Needs section below to talk with them about your idea and how best to shape it to meet their needs.
Local food organizations often are in short supply of age-appropriate food and/or culturally-appropriate foods. Use the Sample Food List in the “Supplemental Materials” section and consider narrowing your requests for donations to these special areas to best meet the needs of the people being served.
If no local organization needs support, consider making a donation to AARP Foundation’s Fight Hunger Campaign at www.aarp.org/hunger to help those who are hungry.
Looking For Other More Non
Freedges are public refrigerators that provide a place for people to donate, share, and obtain food within the community. Foods that can be donated include fresh produce, prepackaged baked and dry foods, commercially packaged foods, dairy products, and labeled home-cooked meals. All home-cooked meals must be labeled with date of donation, food description, and list of allergens. Visit Find a Freedge, to utilize the interactive map to locate a community fridge near you.
Little Free Pantries are small pantries that provide a space for people to donate what they can and take what they need. It is a great place to donate small amounts of nonperishable foods and personal care products to people in your community. Mini pantry movement is an interactive map that locates little free pantries in your community.
Food not Bombs is a food rescue organization aimed to decrease hunger through the distribution of vegan and vegetarian meals to communities in need. Visit here to locate and donate to a Food not Bombs location near you.
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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.
We Fund Programs Not Organizations
There are 23 agencies in the Upper Ohio Valley that are members of the United Way. Each member agency is a 5013 nonprofit organization. And each is eligible to receive a grant to support a particular program.
Our focus on programs allows us to be more intentional with our grant awards. We fund the community programs that are transforming our neighbors health, education, and financial stability.
Donating to United Way is perhaps the best way to show your commitment to these values, since grants are awarded on behalf of people like you who give where they live!
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Where And When Can I Drop Off Food
Food donations come in all sizes.
If you have a few grocery bags or some small boxes of food that you’d like to drop off, you can bring them to the Community Food Bank of central Alabama’s lobby. Lobby hours are Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Our warehouse receives larger food donations Monday-Friday from 7:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.If this time slot does not work, please call us at 205-942-8911.
Can Hungry People Get Food At The Regional Food Bank
Not directly. The food collected and warehoused at the Regional Food Bank is distributed to qualified 501 charities that feed the hungry throughout northeastern New York organizations such as food pantries, soup kitchens, and emergency shelters. These charities, called member agencies, receive the food from the Regional Food Bank and give it to those in need.
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Donate Your Time To A Food Bank: Educate & Advocate
Did you know you can provide essential support to your local food banks and food pantries without ever leaving your house?
It starts with educating yourself on the issue, then using your knowledge to raise awareness within your community, engage local companies and even coordinate outreach to lawmakers and other leaders to encourage them to support policies and funding for food banks and other meal programs.
“Awareness is a great big need, especially in America, commented Scott. Because the idea of hunger existing in a wealthy country like the United States just doesnt make sense to a lot of people, and on the surface it may not seem to exist, but it is a reality.”
In fact, according to Feeding America, more than 35 million people in the U.S. struggled with hunger in 2019 and that number may increase to 50 million in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19.
Regardless of where you live, hunger is a problem, Scott stated. Its prevalent in all parts of the country, urban and rural. One of the big challenges of hunger is that its a well-hidden problem. Its not obvious a lot of times. People with food insecurity often go out of their way to conceal the problem.”
In fact, in parts of the state served by Feeding Missouri, there are areas with food insecurity rates of 30% or more that means roughly a third of the population is dealing with food insecurity. Even some farmers struggle with food insecurity.
What To Donate To Food Banks And Food Pantries
Is it better to donate food or money to a food bank? If you can afford to do so, the food banks we spoke with provided a unanimous answer: Money is better. Food banks have incredible buying power because they are making bulk purchases, and they can stretch a single dollar into multiple meals.
If you look at the food bank model and what a food bank can do with a dollar, the amount of food it can acquire for a dollar is way better than what you and I can do at a grocery store, explained Scott. In most cases, a food bank can provide up to 4-5 meals with a single dollar.”
However, if youd prefer to donate food or supplies, Scott and Jeff both strongly recommended checking in with your local food bank before heading out to the grocery store. Food banks needs can vary widely based on the season, the needs of the community theyre serving and what types of donations theyve recently received. For example, during harvest season, they might get a sudden influx of fresh produce, but have very little fresh fruit and vegetables during colder winter months.
In general, the following are almost always in high demand and should be at the top of your food bank items list:
- Shelf-stable proteins, especially peanut butter, nut butter and canned meats
- Low-sodium canned foods, such as low/no-salt soups and vegetables
- Cleaning supplies and sanitation items
- Personal hygiene items
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