Reminder that straight money donations to food pantries goes further than food donations!

Not that food donations are inherently bad, mind you. If you have spare canned goods, or your garden was extra productive, or things like that they'll still accept it!

But, if you donate straight money, most food banks have someone whose entire job is using those donations to get the best deals on food as possible. Lots of buying in bulk or getting deals straight from food producers. Your $1 donation can be stretched to a solid $5 worth of food in the right hands

@Dio9sys

My garden was extra productive (of squash): I don't think that there are any food pantries nearby that will actually take it. They all want canned goods if you're going to donate food at all.

@richpuchalsky Yeah, that is the hard thing with produce. I've found Food Not Bombs is pretty amenable to garden produce, as are some farmer's markets if you come with veg and say you want to donate it to people who can't afford groceries
@richpuchalsky @Dio9sys We have a few food pantry distribution points that are cabinets for nonperishables and a refrigerator portion on one side. People leave all types of produce. We used to take lettuces, kales, collards, carrots, and of course there were always lots of tomatoes and squashes.