We volunteer regularly at a food pantry that our church runs.

99% of the food that's going out is provided by the Dept. of Agriculture through their various sourcing contracts and various federal benefit programs.

The people who are picking up mac and cheese on sale, or scouring weekly circulars for a few boxes of brand name cereal, or the local Cub Scout troop doing their annual gathering ... great. That stuff gets thrown into whatever boxes are being packed at the moment. Sure, it helps. But don't get bent out of shape about it, either way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did this really happen? I can’t imagine someone saying that. If they did, I would probably explain that they mispronounced “thank you” and then shoot an email to their superior about it.

I believe it.

I stumbled upon a great deal on Market Pantry boxed mac & cheese a few months ago - I was at Target when the worker was placing them on a Clearance endcap - and each box was $.20. I took 12 boxes to take to my local food pantry and when dropping them off, the lady who took the bag passed them to another volunteer and said "mac & cheese GENERIC" and the other worker said "of course it is" and I was stunned.

I've not donated since. There's a little free pantry in one area of my town where someone also set up a table to hold overflow food. I've been leaving food there since.

You should let someone know about that, because the pantry needs to know that their volunteers’ remarks are driving donors away.

+1 That's BEYOND rude. The volunteers need better training on manners and keeping their traps shut.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did this really happen? I can’t imagine someone saying that. If they did, I would probably explain that they mispronounced “thank you” and then shoot an email to their superior about it.

I believe it.

I stumbled upon a great deal on Market Pantry boxed mac & cheese a few months ago - I was at Target when the worker was placing them on a Clearance endcap - and each box was $.20. I took 12 boxes to take to my local food pantry and when dropping them off, the lady who took the bag passed them to another volunteer and said "mac & cheese GENERIC" and the other worker said "of course it is" and I was stunned.

I've not donated since. There's a little free pantry in one area of my town where someone also set up a table to hold overflow food. I've been leaving food there since.

You should let someone know about that, because the pantry needs to know that their volunteers’ remarks are driving donors away.

+ 1
I would have said "Yes, it is generic because I am donating for homeless people. I don't want to give brand-name stuff since that will get stolen by unscrupulous staff. Happens all the time." Wow! You guys are really chilled and do not have a temper problem. I should learn to let it go too.

Or I guess you should ask loudly "What do you mean by that remark? Can I speak with your supervisor?"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did this really happen? I can’t imagine someone saying that. If they did, I would probably explain that they mispronounced “thank you” and then shoot an email to their superior about it.

I believe it.

I stumbled upon a great deal on Market Pantry boxed mac & cheese a few months ago - I was at Target when the worker was placing them on a Clearance endcap - and each box was $.20. I took 12 boxes to take to my local food pantry and when dropping them off, the lady who took the bag passed them to another volunteer and said "mac & cheese GENERIC" and the other worker said "of course it is" and I was stunned.

I've not donated since. There's a little free pantry in one area of my town where someone also set up a table to hold overflow food. I've been leaving food there since.

You should let someone know about that, because the pantry needs to know that their volunteers’ remarks are driving donors away.

Anonymous wrote:Did this really happen? I can’t imagine someone saying that. If they did, I would probably explain that they mispronounced “thank you” and then shoot an email to their superior about it.

I believe it.

I stumbled upon a great deal on Market Pantry boxed mac & cheese a few months ago - I was at Target when the worker was placing them on a Clearance endcap - and each box was $.20. I took 12 boxes to take to my local food pantry and when dropping them off, the lady who took the bag passed them to another volunteer and said "mac & cheese GENERIC" and the other worker said "of course it is" and I was stunned.

I've not donated since. There's a little free pantry in one area of my town where someone also set up a table to hold overflow food. I've been leaving food there since.

Background: I'm a non-profit fundraiser so I run many "community building" events. I would want to know if a staff members was acting in a way that made a participant have a negative experience. In this situation, I would wait until after the holidays and then reach out to the person who planned the event. Thank them for their hard work and then describe what happened in the interaction and how it made you feel.

I love that for you. I LOVE when people say things like that. And I'd have told her that. "I love that you said that; have a great day, bye!"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've had this happen to me before. In my opinion (from what I see with my family), this is why a lot of poor are poor these days. So many people will not use generic and think you should be "treating yourself". I sort of get it, being poor is hard. Their lives aren't great, so they figure they might as well enjoy whatever they can (the brand name food), spend money while they have it because it might not be there tomorrow.

+ 1
This explains all the McDonald happy meals that are handed out by poor parents to their kids at school. They feel they are treating their kids.

I'm a total discount grocery shopper. At my discount grocery, the generic cream cheese (and the yogurt) have added starch/stablizers, so I do get the brand name. I wouldn't automatically judge someone for buying the higher priced product just like I wouldn't judge someone for buying the cheaper version, we are all making choices for our own reasons.

Anonymous wrote:You should have LOL'ed and said "Yes, I bought generic because I am helping a FOOD BANK. For the same amount of money I can help more families.

Another reason to not get brand-name products is to prevent staff at the office here and the food bank from pilfering it. I want my contribution to reach people in need.

However, I wonder why you would make such a rude and unnecessary remark and how is it any of your business?"

Hah, that’s why she was upset. Because it’s going home to her fridge.

Undoubtedly. This was pretty common in our public school. The "good stuff" was very often taken or substituted by office staff, maintainence staff and also some teachers. We had a big problem with running out of keurig coffee pods, paper napkins, cleaning supplies, snacks etc. Too much pilfering. Her comment and action does sound like she was snooping to see what she could take to her own home.

I was a PTA staff appreciation organizer and I started to keep a strict inventory ( I made parents sign up on a sheet about what they were leaving in the office - their name, their kid's name, grade and the contribution they were making) to deter a few people who were sticky fingers. Once that particular staff member left the school, we did not have any further problem, though we continued the practice of keeping inventory and thanking the people who contributed publicly.

Anonymous wrote:I've had this happen to me before. In my opinion (from what I see with my family), this is why a lot of poor are poor these days. So many people will not use generic and think you should be "treating yourself". I sort of get it, being poor is hard. Their lives aren't great, so they figure they might as well enjoy whatever they can (the brand name food), spend money while they have it because it might not be there tomorrow.

+ 1
This explains all the McDonald happy meals that are handed out by poor parents to their kids at school. They feel they are treating their kids.

First off. My family eats a lot of cream cheese and store brand is nearly identical for bagels and completely identical for baking.

I remember being in school and getting a “budget” from my parents for food drives. My friends and I would scour the store to maximize our budget depending on whether it was being judged by number of items or pounds of food. I feel gross about all the ramen or canned beans I contributed over the years.

My rule for my kids for food drives is that we only contribute food we would eat in our home. Our school does a cereal drive every year in the same month. I scour sale ads for 3 grocery chains in the weeks leading up to the collection and I buy name brand cereal that my family likes to contribute.

I've had this happen to me before. In my opinion (from what I see with my family), this is why a lot of poor are poor these days. So many people will not use generic and think you should be "treating yourself". I sort of get it, being poor is hard. Their lives aren't great, so they figure they might as well enjoy whatever they can (the brand name food), spend money while they have it because it might not be there tomorrow.

Cream cheese specifically, is the exact same thing.

At Giant yesterday, my DD went to get cream cheese and came back with two Phillies.

I said "Whoa, whoa whoa. Hang on. Where's the Giant brand. She had no clue about the distinction."

$2.59 vs $4.59.

So rude. Generic is fine and I buy them for myself all the time.

Anonymous wrote:You should have LOL'ed and said "Yes, I bought generic because I am helping a FOOD BANK. For the same amount of money I can help more families.

Another reason to not get brand-name products is to prevent staff at the office here and the food bank from pilfering it. I want my contribution to reach people in need.

However, I wonder why you would make such a rude and unnecessary remark and how is it any of your business?"

Hah, that’s why she was upset. Because it’s going home to her fridge.