Honestly, this is the best option and foodbanks really appreciate it. Getting chocolate is great and people love it but last Christmas we were bundling clients out of the door with like three selection boxes each plus all of their food. Getting money donations allows them to buy crates of stuff which people don’t generally think to give - pet food, UHT milk, nappies, etc etc.
I’m currently working with a charity who, outside of their usual remit, are distributing food parcels at the mo and some of the stuff they have donated is wild: whole wheels of cheese, literal buckets of mozzarella, kombucha, McDonalds sauces, mad seafood, veg like celeriac which a lot of people simply don’t know what to do with. It makes for some super fancy (and also oddly matched) boxes, but honestly people just want simple, filling food and it’s important it can be heated in a microwave IMO as so many people struggle with keeping their meter topped up.
Pissing myself at the commenters to Jack berating her for using toiletries with palm oil: this is the problem that she’s created for herself - she’s spent so long pandering to the middle class Guardianista brigade who can afford to be conscientious in their purchasing habits and worked so hard (for once!) to position herself as one of them that she’s simultaneously expected to Feed The Poors (Let Them Know It’s Christmas Time) and be an ethical buyer. In reality she’s doing neither and I’m enjoying seeing her between a rock and a hard place.
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