Food banks are hungry for all kinds of donations
The phones started ringing soon after the article ran, and kept coming. “Do you not want food from us anymore?” “Should we cancel our company canned food drive?”
A National Post column published last Friday that urged people to give cash and not canned goods to food banks across the country created consternation and confusion for would-be donors to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, which was flooded with calls and emails from people unsure of what to give this holiday season.
“Yes, without question, the best item to donate to any food bank are dollars,” spokeswoman Ariela Friedmann said. “But that remark has to be coupled with an explanation why.”
Cash is king for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank, which can turn a dollar of donated funds into at least $3 worth of food items. Cash doesn’t expire, it doesn’t have a best-before date and it allows donors to get a tax receipt.
Cash donations allow staff to plan meals more efficiently. They can buy fresh fruit and vegetables from farmers, or buy whatever is missing from the cupboard to create a nutritious meal for clients.
Last year, the food bank spent $800,000 on fresh and non-perishable food. It hopes to increase this to $1 million over the next three years which, because of the food bank’s purchasing power, would be equivalent to about $3 million worth of food, Friedmann said.
But canned food, contrary to the article’s headline, is still very much welcome, Friedmann said. With a caveat — “the key is to donate nutritious food and food in our top wanted items,” she said.
Expired, used or opened items are no-nos. Homemade items and bulk food items aren’t allowed due to health and safety regulations.
It takes thousands of volunteerhours to separate banned items from the rest of the donations. The food bank spends nearly $25,000 a year to purge unusable items from its shelves, Friedmann said.
Her advice: Donate what you would eat yourself.
The Greater Vancouver Food Bank’s most wanted list includes canned meat and fish, nut butters, canned vegetables and soups. It also has a virtual food drive on its website, where donors can select groceries for the food bank to buy with donated funds.