Just found out my local food bank gets $0.47 per pound donated through grocery store partnerships

I stumbled on the actual numbers while helping sort donations last Saturday at St. Mary's in Phoenix and realized most of us have no clue how little the system actually gives per pound, has anyone else looked into how their food bank really operates?

2 comments

2 Comments

derek_ramirez16d ago

Doesn't it feel like every good thing gets squeezed down to almost nothing by the time it reaches us? I saw the same kind of thing with a community garden program a few years back, they got $0.12 per pound of produce they grew and donated. It’s like all these systems are designed to look good on paper but the actual charity runs on fumes and volunteer time. You see it everywhere, from those donation bins that sell your clothes for scrap to those “free” meal programs that spend more on admin than food. The real helpers are the ones loading the truck at 6am, not the ones calculating the tax write-off.

the_sam16d ago

You're absolutely right @derek_ramirez, and I used to be one of those people who thought everything was fine. I'd drop clothes in those donation bins and feel good about it, never thinking where they actually ended up. Last year I helped a friend with a small food drive in our neighborhood, and it opened my eyes completely. We spent hours sorting donations and loading trucks, and the whole time I kept thinking about how much money was being wasted on admin costs at bigger places. Now I actually look at the numbers before I give anything, and it's depressing how little actually makes it to people who need it. The folks who show up at dawn to do the real work are the ones keeping these things going.