20 Best Food Bank Donation Items For The Holiday Season
We’re sharing the best food bank donations to make, and a few to avoid!
While food banks certainly appreciate your donations at any time of year, the holiday season can put an additional strain on their resources. As a result, they are especially grateful for your generosity at this time of year!
With this in mind, many individuals and organizations like to increase their donations leading up to Christmas to help meet the surging needs of their community.
Below, we’re sharing some things to remember when planning a donation to your local food bank. We’re covering the best food bank donations, things to avoid, and a few general ideas to keep in mind.
What donation items are at the top of food banks’ wish lists?
First and foremost, cash is always a welcome donation. Often, the food bank can use your monetary donation to purchase food at a discount. As a result, donating cash may stretch your dollar farther than purchasing food at the grocery store or another retailer.
If you’d like to donate food or personal care products, we have a list of items that food banks are always happy to receive—some may surprise you!
If you’re looking to keep costs down (who isn’t this year?) and would like to do a little one-stop shopping, we found all of the items below at our local Dollar Tree. You may be able to find better prices when you shop weekly sales, and if you’re a Walgreens shopper, you may even be able to score some of these items free after coupon stacks and rewards.
1. Manual can opener
2. Canned vegetables, beans, soup, etc.
3. Boxed milk
4. Vegetable oil
5. Salt & pepper
6. Other spices and condiments like ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, etc.
7. Tea bags
8. Ground coffee
9. Sugar
10. Flour
11. Tuna or other canned meat
12. Crackers
13. Sandwich bread
14. Cake mix & frosting
15. Stuffing mix
16. Cereal
17. Dish & laundry detergent
18. Feminine hygiene items
19. Baby food, formula, & diapers
20. Perishable items (select food banks only)
Be sure to check with your local food bank to see if they can accommodate perishable foods like milk, eggs, butter, margarine, fresh meat, and produce. Many food banks cannot accept these items, but if they can, these foods will be greatly appreciated by the recipients.
Bonus: Keep an eye out for vegetable and herb seeds! If it’s not season-appropriate for outdoor planting, they can still be used for container gardening.
Hip Tip: Some food banks will accept donations of gloves, hats, and winter wear during the colder season. Check with your local food bank to verify what they are accepting.
What not to donate to a food bank!
While most of your food bank donations will be gratefully accepted, there are definitely a few items you’ll want to avoid.
Alcohol is usually at the top of the do-not-donate list. Many well-intentioned people try to donate alcohol to food banks, especially around the holidays, but most food banks cannot accept these donations.
Open, used, or expired products should not be donated, either. This includes any product with a hard-to-read expiration date.
Because only properly sealed items can be donated, homemade baked goods and leftovers unfortunately can’t be accepted, either.
Finally, there are some food items that are perfectly fine to donate, but your food bank may already have a lot of them. These include the following:
- Boxed Macaroni and Cheese – Many individuals don’t take home boxed mac and cheese when these see it at the food bank. This is likely due to the fact that it requires milk and butter, which are not available at most food banks.
- Seasoned rice mixes – These often go unclaimed at food banks because they require butter or cooking oil.
- Hamburger Helper – Most food banks can not stock ground beef, making a box of Hamburger Helper less appealing to individuals in need.
- Spaghetti and pasta sauce – These are popular donations, so your food bank may already have a lot of them on the shelf.
- Peanut butter and jelly – These are often donated too, so you may want to consider the less frequently-donated sandwich bread instead!
Looking for more ways to make a positive impact in your community?
I had heard once before that food banks get a lot of cereal but no milk because its perishable. Dry cereal isn’t always the best…How ever consider shelf stable milk when you donate cereal. I’ve seen cartons of it at both Dollar tree and Wal-mart
Thanks for sharing this helpful tip, Teah! 🤗❤️
I recently volunteered at a Food Bank with work and the Director told me cans of Chef Boyardee are the #1 thing they wished they received more often. This is because kids often make their own lunch/dinner while parents are working.
As a food bank volunteer (for years) this is all dependent on the location and what is available at the time. We have mac and cheese all the time and the clients love it. Its a shelf stable item and many clients are on WIC so they get milk. And we hand out milk alot at the food bank, its just determinate on the donations. Mostly its fresh but sometimes its the shelf stable kind. Canned meats are preferred over peanut butter. Cooking oils are a real treat. Canned fruit is also great. Pantries seem to always have canned pasta sauce (like spaghetti sauce) so ready to eat like spaghetti o are better. Chili and Soup are great too.
Thanks for commenting, llc! Good to know what items are preferred at most food banks and that it can also vary depending on location and availability! đź’ž
Also, while the box says use butter and milk to make mac and cheese, you can totally make it without. People who utilize food banks probably know this.
Also toothbrushes and toothpaste and shampoo and soap. Breaks my heart to watch people grab that up.
It’s good to buy canned items that have the pop top so a can opener isn’t needed 🙂
There is a food pantry near my work (also close to a college), and they got a large shipment of laundry detergent that just flew off the shelves. One of the workers pointed out that you can cobble together a fair amount of food from soup kitchens and the like, but personal care and cleaning items are more expensive and harder to find. They often have packs of Clorox wipes too, and those go super fast. As for food items, they said canned soup and canned ready meals (not just for kids!) are great for working people.
Local food pantries do not receive free food from the food bank. They purchase the food or the vouchers they give out from the larger food banks. Large companies donate food to large food banks for tax credits. Like every other business both the food banks banks and local food pantries have expenses utilities staff salaries etc. In our area with a food bank voucher you will receive about 80 pounds of food in a box. Most families would need a car to transport it home. The local food pantries usually gives less food and are usually located within walking distance. Their needs vary depending on if their clients are homeless or not. One can meals like hearty soups, canned pasta, and ramen noodles are great for homeless. I suggest calling one of your local pantries and ask what they need.
In my experience everyone donates during Thanksgiving/Christmas season but in the summer when the kids aren’t receiving breakfast and lunch at school is the most difficult time for local food panties
As a former food pantry director for several years, the one item that I noticed you missed is toilet paper. That is something everyone needs and wants from a food pantry and the government support in the form of what used to be called food stamps does not cover. Also, you can call your local food pantry to see what items they are most needed at the time you are ready to make a donation as their needs fluctuate greatly. Otherwise, I find your list to be very spot on.
Thanks for sharing about the toilet paper, Teresa. Very appreciated! Good reminder to call the local food pantry to see if there are specific needs before donating too. ❤️
This is great. I am currently in a new position at a University in California. Our current pantry is terrible, and I am working on upgrading it to include choices (e.g., grape and strawberry jam, different kinds of pasta, etc.). Just because you are food insecure doesn’t mean you can’t have choices. My vision is to have only halal-approved meat—so everyone can eat it—gluten-free options, and healthy options as well. Frozen and fresh veggies. Hygiene items – not just 4 or 5 tampons but boxes they can take. I hope we can pull it off!
What an awesome vision that includes choices and fresh options as well, Emily! 🎉 Wishing the best of luck to the food pantry endeavor! ❤️ Glad you enjoyed this list!
We support a food pantry and they ask for shelf stable milk- Dollar Tree has whole, 2%, oat and almond. We order them by the case at our local DT. They also request rice- white and brown and beans (lack and red). It is an easy, complete meal. Non sugary cereals- we get great sales at various supermarkets.Spices are a treat. We also buy an aluminum cake pan and put a cake mix, frosting and a can of Sprite and candles in and wrap in Saran Wrap. It is a treat for someone to make a birthday cake for a child. We watch for $1.00 cake and frosting sales at Shoprite in the Northeast
Wow, that’s such an amazing way to support your local food pantry! 💖 Love the idea of putting together birthday cake kits – so thoughtful! 🎂 And it’s awesome that you’re finding deals on all the essentials. Thanks for sharing this great idea, acgold!