Is this a particularly uneducated take on food insecurity/poverty?

[Anonymous]

I volunteer and donate to my local food bank. They recently sent us a somewhat terse letter telling us donors that we need to do better on fresh/frozen goods. A part of the letter read, "Your donations of hamburger helper and cake mix are useless without the items necessary to complete these dishes such as ground beef, oil and eggs. Additionally, we get lots of cake mix donations, but not many tubs of icing. This can mean the difference of a child having a birthday cake or not."

So separate of the issue of the food bank chastising donors, my question is about those who use the food from the food bank. If you can't afford food, and you get several bags weekly of food, is it unfair to think that they *can* afford to buy pantry items like oil or packaged frosting? I get that food is wildly expensive and for those in poverty, it can be prohibitively expensive to grocery shop... but seriously?

I'm asking here because I have been making a conscious effort to check my privilege. What say you on this issue?

[Anonymous]

The food bank would have better served to make a wish list and ask for those items rather than calling a donation of hamburger helper useless. It isn't useless, kids can and will eat it without hamburger, mine did anyway. Some of the food bank recipients will be able to buy additional items, some won't, that's just the way it goes. If you want to donate those items, ignore the letter and buy some chicken and hamburger or some eggs I'm sure the clients will be happy to receive them.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is unreasonable to assume that someone who is using a foodbank will buy oil or icing to make a birthday cake.

And, yes, the letter was unprofessional and probably counter-productive. They should have said what they needed. I would probably donate somewhere else just because a letter like that would make me concerned that the whole program was being mismanaged.

[Anonymous]

Don't these places just want money anyway? It seems much easier to take money and buy the food people need.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if they have a professional on staff for letter writing & editing, press releases, promos, focus groups, etc, to see how things will be perceived?

[Anonymous]

I don’t know if you’re paraphrasing the letter or not but I do think it’s helpful for food banks to make donors somewhat aware of the limitations their clientele may have especially for perishables that go along with the nonperishables that are so often donated. (Also note: if the food bank serves a homeless population, things that require can openers or cooking may not be helpful.) I remember learning about tours kind of thing when I was younger and finding it eye-opening. This is why I donate money on a monthly recurring donation rather than goods to the food bank — they can budget and use my donation to buy those types of perishable staples more effectively without me as the middle man. If that is an exact quote, the tone is maybe a bit harsh though — you don’t want to discourage people from donating.

[Anonymous]

It was a weird and aggressive letter to write to people who are helping. They should/could have framed it more positively without getting into the weeds: we are looking for an increase of x, y, and z.

Sounds like whoever wrote the letter is disgruntled and unhappy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if they have a professional on staff for letter writing & editing, press releases, promos, focus groups, etc, to see how things will be perceived?

no, I think not.
the letter writing was having a bad day and/or doesn't understand his/her role and/or how to get stuff done

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, it is unreasonable to assume that someone who is using a foodbank will buy oil or icing to make a birthday cake.

And, yes, the letter was unprofessional and probably counter-productive. They should have said what they needed. I would probably donate somewhere else just because a letter like that would make me concerned that the whole program was being mismanaged.

100% this.
They could have written an email with a more positive tone, saying that it's great they got donations of X, and if they could get more donations of Y and Z it would be perfect for creating a complete dish/meal. The word "useless" is very off-putting.

[Anonymous]

I didn’t think you were supposed to take perishable items to food banks

[Anonymous]

Your food bank needs to get creative and better with their PR. Yikes!

There is an initiative at our school district that gives away birthday cake kits. They include a can of soda that somehow makes the cake a cake (along with a metal pan, frosting, and candles.) I know applesauce can also be used as an alternative.

Canned chicken or tuna can easily be added to Hamburger Helper.

To call either of these donations “useless” is an insult to both you as a donator, and to recipients as too stupid to improvise.

[Anonymous]

Uneducated and also showing their privilege.

There are people who use food banks who complain, and they probably don’t NEED them as much as WANT them.

As PP said, canned chicken, tuna, hot dogs are staples as protein in truly destitute households. Hamburger Helper will be eaten just fine by itself. Also, a poor family knows to use food stamps for perishables (meat and egg for cake mix) and shop the food pantry for non-perishables to save money.

Tell me you’ve never been poor without telling me. They suck. What’s the name of the organization so I know to never donate there?

[Anonymous]

Saw something like this before, we simply didn't donate anymore. Beggars can't be choosers.

[Anonymous]

I will admit the messaging sounds like it needs some work. However, the message is 100% accurate and it is a difficult thing to discuss with people who are the donators. As evidenced by multiple statements made above the post I’m making right now.


Yes, people who are destitute and poor, can certainly eat hamburger helper on its own, and a cake mix made with no frosting. However, people who are destitute and poor are also human beings, worthy of dignity and respect. Worthy of being able to see the joy on their child’s face, when giving a cake with candles and icing and sprinkles. Being able to really satisfy a bunch of hungry tummies with a hot meal with protein.

We have no idea if or why not someone might have or not have food stamps or WIC and why they are at the food pantry.

I’m not religious but I think I’ve heard the phrase “there but for the grace of God I go” and it may fit here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your food bank needs to get creative and better with their PR. Yikes!

There is an initiative at our school district that gives away birthday cake kits. They include a can of soda that somehow makes the cake a cake (along with a metal pan, frosting, and candles.) I know applesauce can also be used as an alternative.

Canned chicken or tuna can easily be added to Hamburger Helper.

To call either of these donations “useless” is an insult to both you as a donator, and to recipients as too stupid to improvise.

This! I grew up poor and we used a local church food pantry often. My mother would occasionally grab a box of cake mix and she would mix it up with milk and whatever chocolate bars/chips/etc the pantry would have and microwave us little cakes in bowls. When you are poor, you improvise.

We had a lot of macaroni and cheese fortified with canned peas. That was a thing in our house.