Philanthropy Friday #1 (a bit late)

Because I crashed last night, I didn't get a chance to do my first Philanthropy Friday post. But I did do the first donation Friday morning, so even though it is Saturday now, here goes...

Philanthropy of the Week: God's Pantry Food Bank (Lexington, Kentucky)
Amount donated: $25 worth of packaged food

Despite their name, they are not a religious organisation as far as I can tell. They do work with hundreds of churches and social service agencies to make this all work. They were founded when a concerned citizen in Lexington started giving out food from her basement. Eventually this grew into a food bank. God's Pantry is allied with Feeding America, a network of 200 food banks throughout the country. Their mission statement is: The mission of God’s Pantry Food Bank is to reduce hunger in Kentucky through community cooperation making the best possible use of all available resources.

At work this holiday season they had several containers for God's Pantry and we filled them with almost 500 lbs of food, so they decided to leave us a container post-holiday for ready access with donations. So I took in some of my food there.

What I wish I had read first:

Top Ten Items To Avoid Donating [from someone who has relied on food banks throughout the country, who incidentally gave God's Pantry the best of thumbs' up]

That article explains what you should be giving instead, things that don't particularly need to be cooked or mixed with other things. Here is that list:

1. Dried foods (meat jerky, dried fruits, nuts, and even dried veggies!)
2. Canned Chicken and Fish
3. Canned Low Sodium Soups and stews
4. Canned Fruits / Canned Vegetables ALSO CANNED BEANS!
5. Nut butters like peanut butter, cashew butter, and almond butter

Next time I give to the food bank, I'll specifically go buy just those sorts of things, and contact God's Pantry for other suggestions. Or, there's always donating monetarily to them directly at: http://godspantry.org/donations/new

From that site:

Demand for food assistance is at an all time high and continues to grow each month. Our clients are living on the brink and are facing their own personal disasters each day. Together, we can make a difference. God’s Pantry Food Bank will distribute nearly 1.6 million pounds of food this month to those in need, but we need your help today. For every dollar donated, we are able to distribute $10 worth of food and services into the community. That’s right! Your $1 donation can deliver 4.5 meals to those who need it most in central and eastern Kentucky.

The easiest way to donate food? Go to a Kroger store in Lexington.

Kroger Bags – all Fayette Kroger Stores stock pre-made bags of food (vegetables, fruit, meat and pasta products) valued at $2.50, $5 and $10 located near the checkout lanes. Simply pickup a bag, have it scanned and drop it in the blue barrels on your way out of the store. Your charitable donation is registered on the receipt. It’s easy!

Checkout Hunger – Kroger Stores also have coupons valued at $1, $2, and $5 located at the checkout lanes. To make a donation, simply rip off a coupon and have it scanned. Your charitable donation is registered on your receipt.

So you live somewhere other than Central Kentucky; what can you do?

Find a food bank in your area and give either food or money to help your neighbours who may not be able to eat nutritious meals otherwise. It doesn't take a lot, but it can mean quite a bit. God's Pantry has programmes, for example, for kids (where they pack backpacks of food for the weekend when they don't have access to school lunches), seniors, and then the food bank. Volunteer with a food bank, so you can really see how it helps. I know one day I was just riding the bus before Thanksgiving and this woman had a box with her. I thought that odd, so I paid attention to it, and it was a Thanksgiving-in-a-box from God's Pantry. It probably meant the difference between an ordinary day and a holiday meal to her family.

Anyway, that's the 1st charity of the year. I already know what I'm doing next week. As you may remember, January 12th is the anniversary of the Haitian earthquake, which has caused so much death and suffering and now they are dealing with a cholera outbreak. Like last year, I plan to donate to MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders) in memory of that anniversary.

Again, it's not how much you can (I can't imagine donating much more than $25 at a time to anywhere, I'm just not that well off), but it's that you do donate, and others do, and every bit helps.