Food drives look a little different this year

We rely on food drives. Over half of the food we distribute each year comes from in-kind donations. 

We usually don’t specify the items we need. And our food pantry families always love the variety of choices that appears in the pantry due to these community events. But this year, we’ve asked our community to help us keep it simple and we’ve streamlined the variety of items.

This is why:

Early on in the pandemic, to keep us all safe, we transitioned most of our food distribution to a drive-thru model. It’s fast and allows for volunteers to load pre-packed boxes of groceries, virtually contactless, safely into participants trunks—just about 80 pounds worth of food.

We are very committed to the long term health of our entire community. We make sure nearly 90% of the food in each of those boxes is considered highly nutritious foods. We include items such as whole grain pastas, a large amount of fresh produce, fresh dairy products, frozen meat and low sodium canned vegetables. We also make sure to provide the same foods many of us would choose at the grocery store and items that our food pantry families request. We like to make sure there is a good amount of diversity in those boxes, items you could make an entire meal with.

Throughout the pandemic we have been able to easily procure fresh produce and items such as low sodium beans, but because of the disruptions in the food industry (production and distribution) we’ve had a much more difficult time purchasing some of those highly sought items through our regular channels. Those are the items you’ll see on food drive lists. Thank you, we know with your help no one will go hungry this winter.

To learn more about donating food to Beyond Hunger click here.