WHAT TO DONATE

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All of the following are needed for our regular food distribution: canned soup, pasta sauce, pasta, canned vegetables, canned tuna, canned beans, boxed macaroni & cheese, dried potatoes, dried rice, dried beans, canned fruit, dried soup, unsweetened breakfast cereal, cooking oil up to 14oz bottles, peanut butter & jelly, cookies and crackers, powdered milk, potatoes, apples, oranges, personal hygiene products and paper products, Numbers 1 and 2 baby food, and baby formula (please, no larger than one pound package to facilitate distribution), and disposable diapers especially sizes 5 and 6.

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Donating fresh bread or produce?  Try to leave it with us Friday morning or Sunday afternoon so as to keep it as fresh as possible for the Monday morning distribution.  Do NOT leave it outside unattended – even though local wildlife will appreciate it, however we cannot distribute it after they have sampled it!

Frozen and refrigerated food donations must NOT be left unattended.  If they thaw or warm up we must trash the.   Bring them during Pantry operating hours or make special arrangements with us to insure required preservation.

Please limit Food unit/Can sizes!  Note that a large number of our clients walk or travel by bus to the Pantry, and thus 

are limited in respect to how much they can carry away.  Further, very large cans and packages do not fit in the grocery 

bags we prepare for the clients.  With the Lord’s Table closed for the near future, we MAY be able to pass such items to Nourish Now or Manna, but cannot use them ourselves.  Certain large items (e.g.: Costco size pancake mix and syrup) –we can save a limited number for the Boy Scout breakfast.

Very large boxes or bags of cereal make sense for a large family, however we cannot normally split them up.  If you can 

provide a larger number of smaller boxes of cereal, you will help us to help more families. 

We can split up large bags of rice and a few other items, such as tea bags, but for the most part large cans, boxes and 

other large containers are not suitable for our distribution.  Cases of regular-size cans are very useful but please avoid the largest unit sizes. 

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WHAT NOT TO DONATE: 

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The above list gives items we need for the weekly food distribution.  Donations at times include a much wider variety of items, however.  

Please note items which we do not distribute:  

Non-commercial packaged or home-canned items (unless the source is well known to us); dented cans; opened items; alcoholic beverages; prescription or over-the-counter medicines; “non-perishable” food past its expiration date (although we can pass on not-too-far expired items to other programs that can use them); Insect sprays and poisons, Pet food – any turning up in our distribution is passed on to the Humane Society or animal rescue organizations; and candy (except for items appropriate for clients’ young children present at the distribution).