How to Form New Food Pantries
Food pantries are a necessity in most communities. Last year, God's Food Pantry reported that they served 9,678 families. That calculates to 18,868 individuals. It is evident that food pantries continue to help many families.
While it may seem that many food pantries are religious based, not all are. Even if the only one in a specific area is religious based, they will not turn a person away who needs help. Food pantries are formed to help people. Starting a food pantry is a good way to support any community.
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Instructions
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How to Begin
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Begin planning for the food pantry start-up. Keep track of all notes and other information in a notebook. Think about the service goals of your food pantry and location possibilities. Consider what types of foods will be accepted, and if the pantry will be limited to fresh foods or will accept foods close to their expiration dates.
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Decide on how to package the food. Boxes are great and reusable. Bags can be donated. Community members needing help can bring their own bags or boxes to bring their food home in. Using a combination of methods would be helpful.
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Figure out who will help with the pantry. Decide whether or not things can be done without help, at least at first. Keep a list of possible helpers in the notebook. Find someone who can keep the records needed for the pantry, write grants and sign documents.
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Decide where the pantry will be located. In a shed or garage? An empty room? Calculate the costs of renting a space. Find out if someone is willing to donate a place.
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Contact people to find out who is willing to donate food. Find out if there are farmers in the state who will help. Look into government food commodities. Keep what you learn in the notebook.
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Contact food bank organizations to find out what the legal requirements are and to see what things will cost. Find out if it is necessary to become an agent of an organization and what paperwork is required.
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Determine how items such as shelves, freezers and refrigerated units will be acquired. Must they be purchased? Can they be found for free?
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Decide what other services will be provided. Help with bills is an option, as is information about other programs that will help the people in the community.
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Find out what the statistics are for people in the community who will need help. Statistics about income and family size are important when calculating how much food each family will need.
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Tips & Warnings
Often, a store or other source will drop off produce that is not very fresh. It may be impossible to give it to people in need fast enough. Create compost from these items. Give the compost to those in need if they garden. The compost could also be sold to raise money for classes or other needs.
Provide classes on canning and other food preservation methods.
Each year, offer community events to preserve food together.
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Comments
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thank you, this information was very helpful.
