umsami Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Saw this on Twitter, and thought it was too neat of an idea not to share. https://twitter.com/joshbythesea/status/926100939274145792 "The reverse advent calendar idea is cracking. One item per day in a hamper, take it to a foodbank on/around Dec 25." http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/family/reverse-advent-calendar-best-thing-11455809 "The 'reverse advent calendar' is a way of helping people with limited resources over Christmas. It's the work of a collective called UK Money Bloggers. It entails putting one item of food aside each day over Christmas. The campaign suggests starting now, as it's better for food banks to receive food earlier rather than later. But December works, if you really fancy doing it that way – just take products in a few days before. Check with your local food bank for best timings." 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 I think it's s great idea. We had some high school students that trick or treated for canned goods in our neighborhood. They did it a couple days ahead of time and notified via the Next Door app and fliers. I thought that was creative too. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lakeside Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 We’ve done this the past few years and taken the donation to a food bank on Epiphany. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 I love this idea! We used to always put $20 in a pocket of our advent calendar for DS to go shopping for the food bank. There are endless ways to give back, and endless needs this year after so many disasters (on top of endless needs always). :( Terrific idea--thanks for sharing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Just remember, it's better to give cash than food. They can take your cash and buy exactly the food their customers want, rather than trying to cobble together something useful out of random donations - and they are often able to take advantage of bulk buying that you can't, so $20 from you becomes $100 worth of food. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meganrussell Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Our grocery store is doing something neat right now. You can buy a bag of food for $5 that they donate to the food bank for Thanksgiving. It's a simple way to help, and I don't mind adding an extra $5 to my grocery bill each week. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Just remember, it's better to give cash than food. They can take your cash and buy exactly the food their customers want, rather than trying to cobble together something useful out of random donations - and they are often able to take advantage of bulk buying that you can't, so $20 from you becomes $100 worth of food. Our church usually asks for specific things - pasta and sauce, spreads, treats to go in the Christmas hampers, toothbrushes etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 It's still cheaper to buy pasta and sauce, and spreads, and toothbrushes in bulk rather than individually. (Alternatively, I'm sure that the people receiving Christmas hampers would love the joy of buying their own pasta and toothbrushes. How about a gift card to your nearest supermarket?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2scouts Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Just remember, it's better to give cash than food. They can take your cash and buy exactly the food their customers want, rather than trying to cobble together something useful out of random donations - and they are often able to take advantage of bulk buying that you can't, so $20 from you becomes $100 worth of food. A news story today says this isn't always true. Our local food banks get much of their bulk supplies from a large regional food bank. Food companies and groups donate to the regional food bank or the regional food bank buys in bulk and the local pantries get it, but have to pay for a portion of it. The local food banks are complaining that they can go to stores like Aldi's or buy on sale in regular grocery stores for a few cents less than what they pay from the regional food bank for things like canned vegetables or macaroni and cheese boxes. Many of them are asking people to buy the products on sale and donate directly to the local food bank. Even if you donate cash to the local food bank, they don't always have volunteers who are able to compare prices and do the shopping, so some of them are happy to see cans and boxes donated. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Can you link to that? I'm always interested in getting more information :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Great idea. With younger kids, I think the tangible, visible part of buying food and donating it is an essential part of the process, even if it is not always the most efficient. As parents, we serve and give, in part, to teach our children to do the same. Late winter and early spring are usually the low point of supply for our local food pantry, so we give then. I love it that some of the small, local meat processing facilities and the hunters and family farms who have their meat animals butchered there give generously to the food bank. Same with veggie farmers. So much of the food that is donated is heavily processed and of low quality. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scholastica Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Does anyone who keeps Advent not have a tradition of charitable giving as a part of the practice? I don’t know of a church in my area without an Angel Tree, Operation Christmas Child, food collection, toy drive etc. I don’t see this as any kind of new idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 There are community-wide food drives here several times a year, but the biggest is coming up next weekend. Ever house was delivered a bag to fill with "holiday" foods (potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, etc.) plus anything else you want to give. Families in need can sign up for a box that will include a turkey ($ donations help pay for that) plus everything else you need for a holiday meal. They pick up their box and can then pick out an "extra" from an area where they put the more random donations. Apparently the "extra" table is pretty popular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted November 7, 2017 Share Posted November 7, 2017 (edited) It's still cheaper to buy pasta and sauce, and spreads, and toothbrushes in bulk rather than individually. (Alternatively, I'm sure that the people receiving Christmas hampers would love the joy of buying their own pasta and toothbrushes. How about a gift card to your nearest supermarket?) Don't know the why's and wherefores just the what's. I'm guessing partly because we are a small church by your standards so we wouldn'tbe buying enough to get an advantage from buying in bulk and most of the food given out (except Christmas) is very much someone turning up needing food. There also isn't a supermarket within miles and public transport is minimal and expensive so a bit of a mission if you have little kids. Edited November 7, 2017 by kiwik 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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