My flatmate and I just got back from the grocery store! We went with the sole purpose of purchasing items for the foodbank in our city! Let me tell you, seeing our cart filled to the brim with canned veggies & fruits, oatmeal, cereals, peanut butter, canned fish, juices, hot chocolate, pancake mixes, pure maple syrup, pasta sauce, pasta and crackers, was simply amazing! We purchased everything with the value that we would need to be able to eat it ourselves, therefore almost everything was organic, whole wheat and fair trade! It felt great to know you were supporting those people working on the ground to get a decent wage as well as people in need of food!
In the UK you can see a list of foodbanks on The Trussell Trust website!
In Canada you can see a list of foodbanks on Food Banks Canada website!
In the USA you can see a list of foodbanks on Feeding America website!
In Australia you can find information on the Foodbank - An Australian Without Hunger website!
As we exited the store my flatmate said to me “isn’t this better than Christmas” and I have to say I agree!
This is great! Good for you guys! What a blessing for those who really need it this year!
By: Molly on November 25, 2009
at 3:42 pm
How fantastic, and that is superb that you buy good quality food, it’s so awful to see so much junk go to people who really need good, decent food.
By: Jennifer on November 25, 2009
at 4:27 pm
The other day I filled my shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child and I have never had so much fun shopping, trying to explain to my 20 month old daughter A) why the toys weren’t for her and B) that there are people who don’t have as much as us and every year at the holidays it is important to remember them first. Perhaps she didn’t understand and perhaps I was talking a little too loudly on purpose to , ahem, inform the other shoppers as well. But the point is, it was fun and I felt so great the rest of the day. I only wish I had more budgeted for charity!
By: Kelly on November 25, 2009
at 5:21 pm
Well done!
Each year I do an extra Christmas grocery shop specifically for the local food bank. I like to think that I can help someone else’s Christmas more enjoyable by providing food for their table.
By: Kiwi Chick on November 25, 2009
at 6:58 pm
My class is planning on doing a food drive for the local food bank in Febuary. We thought about doing it for Christmas, but decided that since so many people do things for Christmas, we’ll wait and do it when it’s really cold ( -20 to -30 here in eastern Canada), and some people have to decided between heating their homes and eating.
Kudos to you and your flat mate for buying for the food bank!
I’ll be dropping off items for the food bank @ home this week-end. Plus buying a toy and making a donation to KIVA for CHristmas.
Enjoy your hot chocolate tonight.
By: an ostrich named sam on November 25, 2009
at 6:59 pm
Well done to you both for doing such a good thing, it’s really great. Hubby and I used to do something similar up to a few years ago. A couple of years ago I suggested to the girls @ work that we put our Kris Kringle money towards something a bit more useful so we decided to put all our money together, our company matched dollar for dollar and I went to the supermarket and bought a trolley full of goods which I subsequently took to the local Salvos office. Apparently I arrived around their lunchtime and I came away from there feeling that i was quite a nuisance, not one person out of 3 or 4 that I spoke with even said thanks! We did receive a letter from them a few weeks later thanking us for our kind donation. However I was so disappointed that not one person said thanks that day, and in fact made me feel like an intruder, that for subsequent years we have again pooled our money and bought gifts from the World Vision Smiles catalogue instead. I think I’ll check out your links though this year and see if we can do something similar to what you have done just from our family (we’ve already done the Kris Kringle thing)
Cheers
Judy
By: Judy Yates on November 26, 2009
at 1:50 am
[...] Shopping for the food bank [...]
By: Christmas Isn’t All Bad « Notes From The Frugal Trenches – A Downshifting Journey on December 19, 2009
at 2:02 am