Were you one of the thousands of people who donated food through the US Postal Service's food drive Saturday? I have no idea how much food was collected in Pierce County, but it was definitely a lot because I sorted a bunch of it this morning at the Emergency Food Network distribution center. I was one of about 50 volunteers from the Tacoma Pierce County Association of Realtors helped sort all kinds of donated food and we had a great time. There are literally 10's of thousands of donated food items that will need to be sorted over the next week. It's amazing to see the generosity of Pierce County residents. I learned a few things to about what the best food items are to donate and what might not be the best idea. If you plan on donating again next year, here a few things to keep in mind:
1. The bags of collected food are piled up in large crates, so anything in a glass bottle can break easily. We learned this the hard way when we found a bottle of salad dressing had broken in one of the bags and then drenched a bunch of other items. I still smell like Italian dressing.
2. Boxed items, like cereal and pasta, get crushed easily. Put them in a separate donation bag from the canned items and they seems to survive better.
3. If it expired a few weeks ago it's still okay to donate, unless it's baby food. However, if it expired in 2006 please do not donate it. It has to be thrown away so you might as well do it yourself.
4. The food banks cannot accept food that it not commercially packaged. Several people donated bulk food items, like dried beans, that they scooped into plastic bags at the store and then closed with a twist tie. It's a shame to have to throw good food away, but apparently the food banks can accept that.
5. There are at least 5 different kinds of canned lunch meat. I had no idea there were so many. They all looked kind of gross. (I'm a vegetarian.)
6. Pets need food too! You can donate cat and dog food.
A big "Thank You" to all the Realtors, lenders and title reps who donated their time today! You did a great service to your community!
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