This feels like a Help A Family Friday & Frugal Friday post rolled into one! For this weeks Help A Family Friday I thought I’d focus on a little something the vast majority of people in the Western World can do, give a can {or two or ten!} to a local foodbank.
Food banks are a vital and needed service for every community, they allow families to eat and children to go to bed without hunger. The children I fostered were so malnourished & underweight, they vividly remembered going to bed hoping somehow food would arrive & my little lad even used to tell me he would look for crumbs in his bed. Five years later I can’t type that without tears…
Last night I was grocery shopping and was amazed at how expensive food has become. I am a pretty frugal & savvy shopper and yet I’m finding it is nigh on impossible to shop for a week for less than $50, for one person. All around us people who are unemployed, disabled, sick and poor are going without and there is such an easy, frugal way we can all help - buying extra food & donating to the foodbank! Generally I try to buy an extra two items a week and then once a month do a bigger shop for specific items my local foodbanks need, then I deliver all my items together. I find by spacing it out & collecting as I shop each week it fits into my budget more easily!
So how can you get involved? Simply start shopping for non-parishable food items such as pasta, tinned tuna, peanut butter, tinned veggies & fruits, rice, lentils, chickpeas, formula etc {you can also check with your local centre to find out what their emergency needs are} and find your local food bank or collection point!
Here are a list of food banks by country: Australia, Canada, England & USA.
Happy Shopping – now that’s something you don’t hear me say much! 
Great suggestion! That’s an easy way to incorporate giving into your weekly routine! I always mean to do this (my church has a cart for people to drop off donations each week), but I keep forgetting. Must start and make it a habit!
Thanks!
BTW- I like your new title picture! Very nice!
I never realised I could give items to the foodbank as an individual. But maybe things are different in the Netherlands. I will defenitely check it out and see if I can contribute something.
This is a great idea (of course) and such an easy, almost effortless way to help people. For those who are able to give a bit more, it also isn’t necessarily a bad idea to give some money to the local foodbank – often their greater buying power means they can use a slightly larger amount to buy more than the consumer would, and it gives them, as you suggest, a chance to buy the things that they most need.
Thanks Frugal Trenches! When we used to live in downtown Dallas, we would give to the food banks all the time as we saw poverty every day. Thanks for the reminder!
Not something I’ve ever thought about doing but what a great idea!
I frequently shop with the foodbank in mind. I clip almost every coupon I come across, even if we won’t use the product. When a sale rolls around, I use the coupon and stretch my dollars to get more to donate. I usually hold on to what I have collected until an organization near me is hosting a food drive. Maybe I will look into just dropping it off directly at the foodbank. Thanks for the prompting!
FT, Food has become expensive yes… And I also notice that if I carefully plan and shop around sales, it is not that expensive to get a few more extra to goto food banks.
You might want t ocheckout smartcanucks.ca – they post what’s on sale in canadian flyers at one place – so its easy for me to check that and decide what I’m going to buy that week.
FT this is such a timely post because I was thinking about how to make a difference for a few pounds a week! I’m going to set myself a challenge to buy 5 items a week to donate. Thank you again for finding such wonderful ways we can help those in need!
Yes, foodbanks are great. We have one locally and I’m sure that it will be much in demand as times get tougher.
I just found your blog and I think it’s great! Your idea for giving to food drives is an excellent idea as well. I usually try to find ways to volunteer or give without spending any money, but canned food is so cheap— but on the other hand it can do so much for someone else.
Thanks!
It sure is great to do things for others
FT where do you shop now you are in Canada? Just curious. I shop mostly at Loblaws but also try to get to a farmers market when I can. I try to spend around 60 – 70 dollars a week on food (and eat healthy and try to buy organic when I can) but I often go over this (and I’m just one person). If you have any frugal Canadian food tips do please do a post!
I am in Alberta, Canada and do find Superstore (Loblaw’s) to be the least expensive grocery store, too. That said, I find the quality of their produce is sorely lacking sometimes and have been considering sticking to farmer’s markets for at least some produce. Two years ago, I kept our monthly grocery budget for a family of five down to $300. Now it’s $500, but that’s giving myself a lot of room for a bit more convenience. I’m hoping to bring it back down again. It IS possible, but it’s a lot of work. Food prices are DEFINITELY going up.
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