Beyond Canned Ham: Holiday charity food drive ideas?

[The Engineer]

What other "main dish" items are there? I need non-perishable items which require only basic cooking skills, like re-heating.

Is there such a thing as cry-o-vaced pre-cooked roasts that survive at room temperature? Other ideas?

Thanks all!

[Kajikit]

I always give the basics... canned tuna in water, the cheapest pasta that happens to be on sale that day (it's just the same as the more expensive stuff and you can buy three packets instead of two!), canned tomatoes, long-grain white rice or instant brown rice (instant white rice is vile but the brown is pretty tasty!) long-life milk, canned fruit, small jars of peanut butter/jelly, cereal etc. And then if the food drive doesn't specifically say 'buy this' I'll toss in some little christmas treats like chocolate bars - everyone deserves a treat at Christmas...

Oh, and I will 'clean out my pantry and donate it' but only because I live in hurricane country so I have to have a good stock of nonperishable food over the summer - come December it's not hurricane season any more, and I don't really want to keep it hanging around for too long! So it's all perfectly good usable food that most people would consider okay (canned veg-all and spam and stuff like that) but that I won't eat unless I really HAVE to!

[optimal forager]

Yeah, at first I thought I'd hit Ultra (very, very cheap for the basics), then thought,
"I don't eat pasta and boxed stuffing and canned fruit, why should I give it? And why should I make any assumptions about the tastes of the people receiving this food? I'll go to TJ's." But I checked chowhound and found my dilemma already thrashed out, so between the old comments and yours, I'm doing the basics and adding some non-food items like toothpaste, plus calling ahead and asking the pantries what they particularly need.

[aletnes]

I spent a year working at a foodbank .. and I agree completely at the idea that "gourmet" items don't transition well (imagine explaining chocolate covered matzoh to immigrants from El Salvador!).

There is a middle ground, however, between gourmet and the "spaghetti-os" realm. When I buy for food drives, I try to get a few bags of dried beans, a box or two of pasta, canned tomatoes/sauce, and then a couple of nicer items. Nothing too fancy, but some extra-virgin olive oil or nice olives. Things that are familar, but still lend themselves to a nice dinner.

It also makes a huge difference what ethnic background your needy populations are. Most towns it is pretty clear. Talk to a local foodbank and find out if they need the makings for tuna noodle casserole or enchiladas, or in my area, we even have a high Vietnamese population.

[optimal forager]

I'm reviving this thread because I just heard that the stocks at food pantries here in the Chicago area at an unprecedented low for this time of year. I was going start a thread about what to give, but here's one from last year: I love Chowhound. I'm printing out this page to take with me when I go shopping.

[The Engineer]

OP here, thanks everyone for chiming in!

I'm going to get the ham after all, but will supplement it with more dried items than I would have. And kirkland canned chicken too. Canned veggies of course. Spices and herbs... another great idea. Thanks!

I'm ambivalent regarding what I'll call the "San Marzano tomatos & hand cut imported pasta vs. Spaghetti-o's" question... In the end, I want my gift to be enjoyed by the recipients, so Spaghetti-o's will probably win out this time.

I thought the warnings against gift certificates were odd- assuming poor people will spend them on tobacco and alcohol? By the way, I wouldn't begrudge anyone a drink with Christmas dinner, if that's what they want. God forbid!

[danhole]

"I thought the warnings against gift certificates were odd- assuming poor people will spend them on tobacco and alcohol? By the way, I wouldn't begrudge anyone a drink with Christmas dinner, if that's what they want. God forbid!"

I thought that was odd as well! To assume that if you are hungry and going to a food bank means you are a drunk or a druggie is just plain wrong!

[cayjohan]

Kelli,
Beautiful work. Thank you for inspiring us.

I especially like the talk about summertime donations from Chowser. Thanks for waking us up.

Chowhounds...remember this post next July.

[free sample addict aka Tracy L]

Check the Dear Santa letters at the post office; people ask for food. You could bring them some perishable foods for their Christmas dinner and some non-perishable food to get them through the next couple of weeks.

[fabkc]

For those that work with food banks, will most accept frozen turkeys? It seems this time of year you can get a free frozen turkey for every business you frequent. I know a lot of people with Butterballs they don't want. Will they be accepted if delivered directly, or is that too much of a liability?

[chowser]

Ours will accept meat but doesn't have the capacity, especially this time of year, to accept a lot of turkeys. Call ahead--different cities have different laws, too.

This is great that so many people are willing to step up to the plate. One thing to keep in mind is that the need is actually greatest in the summer when children are home and there aren't as many organizations collecting. Right now, our shelter is packed to the rim w/food collected from Thanksgiving and they're storing food in people's basement and garages. We're expecting more at Christmas. But, in the summer, the cupboards were REALLY bare. We'll use the excess food we have and appreciate more but have to find space for it all.

[Kelli2006]

Chowser, I totally agree with the great need in the summer and other times when schools aren't in session. The pantry that I am associated with cannot accept turkeys right now as we don't have the space to store them till Christmas. I have 2x 15 lb birds in my personal freezer that were donated last week. We sent out a record number of food orders for Thanksgiving, and it looks to be another record for Christmas.

RE: Karl, I understand what you mean about gourmet food, but we had someone donate more than $200.00 worth of organic pasta sauces and other high quality foodstuffs, but the people didn't recognize the name or didn't know how to prepare them. I live in north-central Ohio, and most clients want comfort foods that they grew up on. Spaghetti, noodles, pasta and potatoes are the most popular. We dealt with a large influx of Mexican immigrants who were employed as farm workers a few years ago, and they needed dried beans, rice, masa harina and other ethnic items, but the vast majority of our clients are Midwestern people who lost blue collar jobs when many large corporations moved out of the area in the late 90's-early 2000. Many clients have limited culinary expertise and just want easy to fix, and filling pantry staples. We have many requests for money to pay heating/rent bills, but that is beyond our means this year, as the financial donations that we rely on are restricted because the donations are less than 1/2 of what they have been the past few years.

Re:Coll, I agree 100% with you. We have many donations that seem to be the the results of them cleaning out their pantry and donating foodstuffs that they won't use, or something they might have bought 10 years ago. Please don't donate it to a food bank if you are unwilling to eat it yourself.

We try to give them 1 weeks worth of food, and usually a $20.00 gift card for perishables that we cannot stock. The gift cards to a local grocery and the store know they are not to receive more than $2.00 in change, because we don't want the money spent on alcohol and tobacco.
The soup kitchen I volunteer at has been seeing rising number and we average more than 100 meals served in less than 2 hours. The local Salvation Army shelter serves a hot lunch every day, but they have had to turn away people seeking a warm place to sleep for the past 2 weeks.

The economy is not as good as many would like you to believe and everything that you co do to help those less fortunate themselves is extremely welcome.

[chowser]

The food pantry where I volunteer requests gift cards to grocery stores so people can get turkey or whatever main course they want.

[HillJ]

Excellent suggestion, chowser. Gift cards provide the recipient flexibility to shop as needed without worry about storage.

[jlawrence01]

The major problem with gift cards is that they are easily converted to cash ... or can readily be converted into cigarettes and alcohol. Then, the rest of the family has no food.

[free sample addict aka Tracy L]

A lot of food banks use those cards to fill in the gaps where the food donations are running low.

[chowser]

Not the people I've served. I don't think the adults of families that have fallen on hard times are going to put their families last any more than another parent. At my pantry, they're given a package of food to make a meal and then a gift card for the turkey. Not to say it can't happen or it doesn't but I'd be surprised if it were that common.

[Karl S]

Is boiling beyond a basic cooking skill?

If not, then all sorts of pastas and beans and rices (don't just get converted: get medium grain, brown, jasmine, wild, et cet.) and other grains (barley, for example) come into play, with all sorts of jarred sauces. Canned tuna (in water and in olive oil), canned chicken breast (the Kirkland brand from Costco is actually very good). Oils, vinegars, seasonings of all sorts.

As a general rule, for food charity, I only buy nutritious food that I myself would enjoy to eat (in the sense that I don't buy low-quality foods to give them away; for example, no jarred pasta sauces with corn syrup or sugar, and very preferably with tomatoes or diced tomatoes rather than tomato puree as the first ingredient. et cet.)

[Kelli2006]

Karl, Thanks for your post, but I have to politely disagree. I volunteer at a food bank and cook at a soup kitchen.
Most of the people we help are not gourmets and seek basic unflavored pastas,noodles and white rice. There have been many times where people donated expensive foodstuffs, but the people want basic Ragu pasta sauces and breakfast cereals. Canned fruit and vegetable are always a welcome, but please keep it to beans and corn, tomato and chicken and cream of mushroom soups.
other items in need;
saltine crackers
flour and sugar, salt etc.
corn/cooking oil
paper products of all kinds that cannot be purchased with foodstamps
cleaning supplies and trash bags
personal hygiene and feminine protection
canned popular fruit and juices
cake and dessert mixes on holidays
jello and pudding
boxed mac and cheese is very popular
boxed potato/noodle mixes
cash donations for perishables are always welcome.
P.S. Paper grocery bags are always welcome , as they are needed to bag groceries.

[cayjohan]

Thank Kelli, for pointing out needs beyond the "Traditional Holiday Dinner."

Paper products and cleaning supplies are some things we don't think of often enough when donating.

Throw some of these products into your donation bags folks. If the paper towels are not being used to dry duck breasts, you'll still know they were used for something good :). And kind.

I hate to say "noblesse oblige," but I will. Even though I am hardly able to claim nobility OR the ability.

[Karl S]

Btw, I am not talking gourmet food. I am talking ordinary everyday food. I agree with your list. I am only addressing the reaction of some people to food drives to give crappy food they themselves would not eat. I think my rice list may have thrown you off; I live in an area where the food pantries also service people from non-Western folks, and I try to make sure that they can have access to the kinds of rices they might prefer. That's all; it's not really a foodie thing. With a little effort at my local markets, I can actually get better quality foods at a better price than crappier foods (you have to know the cycle of sales to do it). I think the effort may be worth it to some people in the end.

[coll]

I know what Karl means, I see donations of cans that look a thousand years old with black and white generic labels, that you know should have in the garbage long ago. I think some name brand tuna would be a nice protein item to give. Also spices (parsley, cumin, basil, oregano etc) might be appreciated.

[Candy]

This is a bit off the food topic but belongs here anyway. Along with personal hygiene and and feminine protection items one of our local shelters for women asks for any cosmetic samples we may have accumulated during the year, tooth brushes and tooth paste and underwear...usually in larger sizes. The underwear seems to be a biggie. A year ago I got a post about a family in the Big Brother Bis Sister program who had no back to school clothes. The poster was asking if any of us might be able to supply gently used clothing and underwear, the family had no cash to even go to a thrift shop. For under $100 I outfitted those 2 kids with a weeks worth of new underwear, socks and back to school clothes. Someone else bought shoes and more underwear. Others in my group chipped in enough cash for the big sister to take them shopping. They got new coats too and had school supplies like everyone else.

I think food is important but comfort and essentials for self esteem when it can cost us so little to supply and is a great thing to share. Our office adopts a family each year for Christmas and it is not hard to find who is in need and do a little secret santa-ing. The different agencies can tell you who is in need and what they need.

[jlawrence01]

In addition, I would also recommend the following:

1) Hats and gloves for cold weather word.
2) Socks and that pair of shoes that "just don't fit you but you never took them back"
3) Ditto on your third-string warm parka.
4) Phone cards for the elderly and members of the Armed Forces.
5) Chapstick and lip gloss.
6) School supplies.