HAGERSTOWN, MD - A local food bank is right in the midst of its busy season, and donations are still needed. With the Bags of Plenty Drive, Food Resources, Inc. hopes to fill their empty racks and give low-income families a bountiful holiday season.

With help from schools, businesses, and drop-off locations at some area grocery stores, the goal is simple. Just fill a brown shopping bag with cans of food to donate.

Ruth Anne Callaham describes the objective. She says, "They'll buy double. If they buy a can of pumpkin for the pie, they'll buy another one for the food bank, and so we do get a lot of really nice donations this time of year."

The food bank is hoping to get a minimum of 15,000 pounds of food donated during the Bags of Plenty Drive.

So far they've gotten 5,000 pounds. However, with only two weeks to go, donations are still needed.

"The need for food is so great, we get requests for food every week, and the shelves are getting thinner and thinner as we go through this holiday season," Callaham says.

The shelves are thinner for two reasons. First, with gas prices and heating oil spiking, more requests are coming in to the food bank. They've still worked hard to help everyone in need, but they've had to give them less.

Secondly, a change in the way grocery stores get rid of unwanted food. Cans that are close to their expiration date, or dented, have led to a substantial drop in donations. Whereas grocery stores used to donate those cans to the food bank, now they go to discount or dollar stores.

Callaham adds, "So over the last few years, we've clearly lost a hundred thousand, 200,000 pounds of food, that would go to low-income folks free, now going to the discount stores."

That means bare shelves at the food bank.

"Now that food's not coming in, so our racks stand empty," Callaham says.

Collection sites for the Bags of Plenty program are Food Lion stores in the Hagerstown area, and the Weis on Dual Highway.

If you would like to donate food you can also bring it right to Food Resources Inc.'s warehouse, or call them to have someone pick it up.
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Each year it only seems to get worse.

That's just great, instead of the store donating dented cans, they sell them at Dollar Stores.
The CEO of the grocery store's don't have a heart.

Hey, I've been running low on tuition money for awhile now.





Where's my "you don't feel guilty" thread? Overwhelming responses; there was. We take care of ourselves first. :head nod:


We'll get to ya'll AFTER we got everything we want.



Don't lynch me quite yet. I have my sizes too small clothes, my furniture too unfit, my school books a year too old and my leftover downgraded anythings, up for free and offered to several cheritable organizations that CANNOT/WILL NOT be bothered.

Who actually wants what I consider "crap?" Not many, in my experience. At what cost to me am I suppose to provide my contribution?

I want to bitch about it, yet I'm afraid to get my hands dirty for fear of my own emotional contribution.

let me guess... size 4?

I have this thing about men in dream sequences.

Heather -- maybe we should donate to you instead..

One reason I refuse to donate to Food Resources is that they sell lots of their food to local daycare providers, and too many of those daycare providers shop for their whole family there, not just for thir daycare kids, at like $0.29 per pound or something.

I give my food donations direct, or to the church food bank.

Oh really, I didn't know that. How sad.

Leave it to Heather to think of only herself. What a trooper.

So, they're as bad as goodwill--who allow the 'helpers' to get stuff first and free b-4 putting it on the floor for sale...why I give to Samaritan's Purse & the Salvation Army..

I don't understand why daycare providers should get a discounted food rate... seems to me it's a tax-deductible business expense. It's not like freelance writers get a discounted rate on books at Goodwill. Maybe there's a reason for it that someone can explain to me.

Related article about hungry kids in the U.S.: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-1...ds_N.htm?csp=15

their day care program is seperate from the low income family program... the also have a senior citizen and POW/vet program.
they said they have a huge problem with daycare providers who double-dip... they will go there and get food at a discount rate, and then go to a grocery stiore and get discounts there as well... dude on the phone was very nice and explained it much better than i can... anyone with questions should probably just call...

That I can understand and support.

And I can understand daycare providers getting a discount at supermarkets (the same way business people get discounts at office supply stores).

I'm with Snoopy on this one... my food donations are either going to be direct or a local church food bank.