Tomorrow is the day, folks! In the U.S., many U.S. Postal workers will be
picking up stuff for the local food bank/food pantry. Along with a most
excellent list posted by Damsel (shown below) I just thought of something
else. Foil and plastic wrap. Maybe some of those disposable Glad-type heat
and eat containers.

"Food and beverage mixes that can be made with WATER ONLY (no milk, eggs,
sugar, etc. required).

Complete meals and desserts in a box.

Many sausages (including pepperoni) require no refrigeration, nor does
pre-cooked bacon or hamburger. Same with American cheese or Velveeta.

These are our donation plans. I don't think these things occur to most
people, because they think, "Refrigerator." Think outside the box, and if
anyone has more suggestions of this kind, please post them.

Most food shelf donations of soup are either chicken noodle or tomato,
because they're the cheapest. Variety is a nice surprise. The huge cans
come in handy for people with large families.

Breakfast cereals, including instant oatmeal packets. Most of the donations
of cereals are heavily sweetened. Remember the diabetics who may be
receiving your donation. At our food shelf, you can ask for a diabetic
box.

Canned fruit - a very much overlooked item, at least here. Little
one-serving containers of fruit, Jell-O or pudding for kids and other people
who have small appetites are a nice idea.

Packaged cookies. The generic sandwich cookies are a nice treat, but
Pepperidge Farm would knock a poor family's socks off.

Treat someone to Jasmine rice, or another nice rice variety."

I already added shortening or vegetable oil to the list. It's something I
don't think of. Carol also mentioned pet food; excellent idea!

Jill
--
I used to have a handle on life...but it broke off.

I forgot to mention, Carol suggested grated Parmesan. Yes, the stuff in the
green can, folks. A lot of people donate spaghetti and pasta sauce, but
hey... cheese!

Jill

jmcquown wrote:
> Tomorrow is the day, folks! In the U.S., many U.S. Postal workers
> will be picking up stuff for the local food bank/food pantry. Along
> with a most excellent list posted by Damsel (shown below) I just
> thought of something else. Foil and plastic wrap. Maybe some of
> those disposable Glad-type heat and eat containers.
>
> "Food and beverage mixes that can be made with WATER ONLY (no milk,
> eggs, sugar, etc. required).
>
> Complete meals and desserts in a box.
>
> Many sausages (including pepperoni) require no refrigeration, nor
> does pre-cooked bacon or hamburger. Same with American cheese or
> Velveeta.
>
> These are our donation plans. I don't think these things occur to
> most people, because they think, "Refrigerator." Think outside the
> box, and if anyone has more suggestions of this kind, please post
> them.
>
> Most food shelf donations of soup are either chicken noodle or tomato,
> because they're the cheapest. Variety is a nice surprise. The huge
> cans come in handy for people with large families.
>
> Breakfast cereals, including instant oatmeal packets. Most of the
> donations of cereals are heavily sweetened. Remember the diabetics
> who may be receiving your donation. At our food shelf, you can ask
> for a diabetic box.
>
> Canned fruit - a very much overlooked item, at least here. Little
> one-serving containers of fruit, Jell-O or pudding for kids and other
> people who have small appetites are a nice idea.
>
> Packaged cookies. The generic sandwich cookies are a nice treat, but
> Pepperidge Farm would knock a poor family's socks off.
>
> Treat someone to Jasmine rice, or another nice rice variety."
>
> I already added shortening or vegetable oil to the list. It's
> something I don't think of. Carol also mentioned pet food; excellent
> idea!
>
> Jill

"jmcquown" wrote
> Tomorrow is the day, folks! In the U.S., many U.S. Postal workers will be
> picking up stuff for the local food bank/food pantry. Along with a most
> excellent list posted by Damsel (shown below) I just thought of something
> else. Foil and plastic wrap. Maybe some of those disposable Glad-type
> heat
> and eat containers.
>

Thanks for the reminder. I just put my donation by the mail box.

Kelly

Kelly wrote:
> "jmcquown" wrote
>> Tomorrow is the day, folks! In the U.S., many U.S. Postal workers
>> will be picking up stuff for the local food bank/food pantry.
>
> Thanks for the reminder. I just put my donation by the mail box.
>
> Kelly

Thank you!

Jill

jmcquown wrote:
> Tomorrow is the day, folks! In the U.S., many U.S. Postal workers
> will be picking up stuff for the local food bank/food pantry. Along
> with a most excellent list posted by Damsel (shown below) I just
> thought of something else. Foil and plastic wrap. Maybe some of
> those disposable Glad-type heat and eat containers.
>
> "Food and beverage mixes that can be made with WATER ONLY (no milk,
> eggs, sugar, etc. required).
>
> Complete meals and desserts in a box.
>
> Many sausages (including pepperoni) require no refrigeration, nor
> does pre-cooked bacon or hamburger. Same with American cheese or
> Velveeta.
>
> These are our donation plans. I don't think these things occur to
> most people, because they think, "Refrigerator." Think outside the
> box, and if anyone has more suggestions of this kind, please post
> them.
>
> Most food shelf donations of soup are either chicken noodle or tomato,
> because they're the cheapest. Variety is a nice surprise. The huge
> cans come in handy for people with large families.
>
> Breakfast cereals, including instant oatmeal packets. Most of the
> donations of cereals are heavily sweetened. Remember the diabetics
> who may be receiving your donation. At our food shelf, you can ask
> for a diabetic box.
>
> Canned fruit - a very much overlooked item, at least here. Little
> one-serving containers of fruit, Jell-O or pudding for kids and other
> people who have small appetites are a nice idea.
>
> Packaged cookies. The generic sandwich cookies are a nice treat, but
> Pepperidge Farm would knock a poor family's socks off.
>
> Treat someone to Jasmine rice, or another nice rice variety."
>
> I already added shortening or vegetable oil to the list. It's
> something I don't think of. Carol also mentioned pet food; excellent
> idea!
>
> Jill

Ours was the 13th; yesterday. I even got a postcard in the mail from the
Post Office regarding it. I just didn't have anything to give! We don't
have canned goods.

kili

On 2005-05-14, jmcquown > wrote:
> Tomorrow is the day, folks! In the U.S., many U.S. Postal workers will be

Holy crap, you had me diving for cover, Jill. I get a little jumpy
when I read, "many U.S. Postal workers will....". Guess I'm just a
little gun-shy.

nb

On Fri, 13 May 2005 23:00:54 -0500, "jmcquown"
> wrote:

>Tomorrow is the day, folks! In the U.S., many U.S. Postal workers will be
>picking up stuff for the local food bank/food pantry. Along with a most
>excellent list posted by Damsel (shown below) I just thought of something
>else. Foil and plastic wrap. Maybe some of those disposable Glad-type heat
>and eat containers.

Thanks for the reminder Jill. I probably got a postcard or other
notice but didn't pay attention!

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

(Curly Sue) said:

>On Fri, 13 May 2005 23:00:54 -0500, "jmcquown"
> wrote:
>
>>Tomorrow is the day, folks! In the U.S., many U.S. Postal workers will be
>>picking up stuff for the local food bank/food pantry. Along with a most
>>excellent list posted by Damsel (shown below) I just thought of something
>>else. Foil and plastic wrap. Maybe some of those disposable Glad-type heat
>>and eat containers.
>
>Thanks for the reminder Jill. I probably got a postcard or other
>notice but didn't pay attention!

We were too late with our box of stuff. We'll bring it directly to the
Salvation Army.

Carol

"jmcquown" > wrote in message
. ..
> Tomorrow is the day, folks! In the U.S., many U.S. Postal workers
> will be
> picking up stuff for the local food bank/food pantry.

Thanks for the heads up, Jill, and thanks to everyone for the good
ideas. I came up with a couple of bags of diapers, a few boxes of Thai
kitchen noodles w/ peanut sauce mix, a few boxes of pasta, a big bag of
Cheerios, a bottle of pancake syrup, some canned soups and peaches, and
a few cans of tuna.

I'm not sure I would have noticed the post card if I hadn't read about
it here, so I'm glad you posted!

Chris

_.-In rec.food.cooking, jmcquown wrote the following -._
> I forgot to mention, Carol suggested grated Parmesan. Yes, the stuff in the
> green can, folks. A lot of people donate spaghetti and pasta sauce, but
> hey... cheese!

I had never thought of that before. I guess the stuff in the green
can could be one of the best things one could ever get in this kind of
deal. And here I thought that it didn't serve any use other than
taking up shelf space in a store.

--
.-')) fauxascii.com ('-. | It's a damn poor mind that
' ..- .:" ) ( ":. -.. ' | can only think of one way to
((,,_;'.;' UIN=66618055 ';. ';_,,)) | spell a word.
((_.YIM=Faux_Pseudo :._)) | - Andrew Jackson

Chris Neidecker wrote:
(snip)
I'm not sure I would have noticed the post card if I hadn't read about
> it here, so I'm glad you posted!
>
> Chris
===============================================


On behalf of the people who receive food pantry stuff (we have a pantry
at work and feed folks six days a week) thank you all for your
donations.

For a couple of months this winter, we were unable to get "food drive
mixed boxes" on our order list and let me tell you, our menus suffered!
That occasional green can of pseudo/parmesan makes a big difference
when you're trying to invent "Italian Surprise" from broken linguinine,
a #10 can of generic spaghetti sauce and some USDA canned pork. Spices
and seasonings are welcome too - we don't turn our noses up at the 99
cent spices in the little plastic bottles either!

Of course when the (slightly dated) produce, dairy , bakery and
perishables come every Monday from "Daily Bread", sometimes it's an
embarrasment of riches. Last month I gor boxes and boxes of fresh
shitake, crimini, portabella and big white stuffing mushrooms!

Now does anyone have any suggestions for my 15 lbs of sliced generic
American cheese? (NOT the really good commodity stuff!)

Lynn from Fargo
Made 16 quarts of chili for tonight's supper - all gone!

"Lynn from Fargo" > said:

>Now does anyone have any suggestions for my 15 lbs of sliced generic
>American cheese? (NOT the really good commodity stuff!)

Grilled cheese sammiches (of course)
Hamburger-elbow macaroni-tomato casserole
Macaroni and cheese
Chili-cheese dogs

That's all that comes to mind, right off the top of my pointy little head.

Carol

"Lynn from Fargo" > said:

>Spices
>and seasonings are welcome too - we don't turn our noses up at the 99
>cent spices in the little plastic bottles either!

I never thought of that! The very next time we go grocery shopping, I
promise. I'll bet coffee isn't donated very often because of the expense.
We'll get some of that, too.

Looks like it won't happen this year, but next spring, we plan on planting
2 apple trees and 2 pear trees. We'll have an abundance of fruit after a
few years, and the extra is earmarked for the Salvation Army.

Thanks for all you do for hungry people, Lynn. You too, Pam, wherever you
are!

Carol

On 2005-05-15, Lynn from Fargo > wrote:

> Now does anyone have any suggestions for my 15 lbs of sliced generic
> American cheese?

Yeah, ram a stick into into it with a sign saying "free cheese" and
put it out on the curb.

nb

"Lynn from Fargo" > wrote in message
> Now does anyone have any suggestions for my 15 lbs of sliced generic
> American cheese? (NOT the really good commodity stuff!)

Did you try the cheese?

I recall when Regan was emptying out the surplus in warehouses, every senior
in the neighborhood had a 5 lb. block of cheese. Some was surprisingly
good.

Cheese omelets would be a good start if you have the eggs to go with it.
Maybe some sort of quiche type of dish?