An Open Letter to Food Banks
Does your food bank carry diapers and baby food?
If the answer is no, why not?
I came across this article about how food pantries are seeing an increase in demand. This is not new news, but the interesting part has to do with hygiene items:
“Most of the people who are coming in are new people who we’ve never seen before,” said Roberto Corea, who oversees the food pantry at Hope Chapel Foursquare Church in Hermosa Beach. “Many of them are middle class.”
Last year the local pantry supplied about 125 families each month with groceries and other supplies. This month, more than 300 families are receiving assistance, Corea said.
Many of those who are coming in are also looking for hygiene products and food packages that don’t require cooking, an indication that more families may be homeless, he added.
If families in crisis are seeking assistance from food banks, those with young children also need diapers and most likely baby food. We have been told many times that the number one item mothers of young children ask about is diapers.
The operations, economies of scale, logistics, and distribution to partner agencies and individuals is all there.
Why not?
Does your local food bank carry diapers and baby food? Leave a comment to let us know.
Our local food bank carries diapers when they are available from our distributers and/or they’ve been donated. I work very hard to remind donors that food stamps, WIC, etc don’t cover hygiene products and cash benefits often don’t stretch far enough. We ask for toilet paper, feminine products, toothpaste (in kid’s flavors, too!), soap, shampoo, and lotion.
Our community center is hosting a Community Health event, and we’ll be distributing hygiene packs. We’re collecting travel-size bottles of hand sanitizers and lotion and small packs of tissues for our homeless participants.
One easy way to encourage donors is to specifically target a drive at the end of summer and after the new year. Suggest that they donate all those travel-size items they took while traveling–it really gets them thinking about how hard it is to stay clean while homeless.
Great ideas for targeting drives. Thanks Melissa!
I founded the Nevada County Diaper Fund in January, 2009. We serve the young mothers who are registered at Interfaith Food Ministry in Grass Valley. Diapers are collected from the local churches, women’s groups, and friends and neighbors. Fund raising is done on a regular basis which includes: Candy sales, gourmet dinners, participation with local restaurants who donate a percentage of the sales to the fund, and newspaper articles asking for donations. So far we have managed to keep up with the demand.
[...] benefit Feeding America food banks, which I think is all kinds of awesome, since you know I believe food banks can play a pivotal role in distributing diapers and other hygiene [...]