Loaves, Fishes, Beans, and Tuna

 Judy and I swiped two chairs from the garden-furniture display and sat at an information table set up in the Berkeley Grocery Outlet store today.  The Grocery Outlet has sponsored a month-long promotion to collect food and money for the Berkeley Food Pantry.    


The Pantry director, Bill, had selected canned foods that were in "Grab & Give" bags that customers could buy at cash registers for $5 and deposit in a barrel.  The food included canned tuna, fruit cocktail, beans, and canned vegetables.   Thank you, Grocery Outlet!

Stacked"Grab & Give Bags" and a poster display about the Pantry

Our job was mostly catching customers' eyes and smiling.  Some were curious and came over to see what was up.  Others had in mind what they wanted to do and simply took a bag and went to the cash register.   Some had questions about volunteering.  We wore our volunteer nametags to look friendly and vaguely official.

If you ever want  to donate food to a pantry, food bank, or food drive,  here are some always-welcome items.  Packaged food should to be unopened and not far past the sell-by date:

Canned meats (chicken, tuna, other fish)
Peanut butter
Rice
Pasta
Cereal (the kids love cold, but hot's okay, too)
Canned fruits
Cookies and snacks
Boxes of macaroni and cheese
Garden produce (zucchini, lettuce, plums, lemons--anything you got!)