Sorry, I'm not understanding! Did you prepare the Annie's mac n cheese or donate the product ?

I love Annie's brand and think it's great you are so giving to those in need. It's really difficult to think about people not having enough food, and hungry children really tug at my heartstrings.

I too am confused. Did you donate 1,000 packages of mac and cheese?

You might want to talk to CityHarvest and see what they need the most. My local food bank has put out a list of wants and "please don't give, we are full up on that".

For one pot/bowl items, instant soups, oatmeal, dried chili, cans of beef stew or chicken and dumplings are all good and nutritious. Hearty canned soups such as lentil, bean and pea soup work well also. Instant coffee, tea bags and powdered milk are always needed.

Hope this helps...

I raised the money...
And want to use the money wisely. I just do not purchase or use
Canned or packaged foods.

So you raise the money and then buy it, correct?

Here is a list of items needed from their website:

The most needed foods are:
canned fruit
canned vegetables
peanut butter (plastic jars)
mac and cheese (packaged)
hot and cold cereal (packaged, family-sized)

The following donations will feed a family of four for a day:
Breakfast: Box of cereal or oatmeal; dried fruit; powdered milk; 100% fruit juice.
Lunch: Tuna, peanut butter, or soup; canned vegetables; canned fruit.
Dinner: Any canned protein (i.e. beef stew, chicken), or meat sauce; macaroni & cheese, pasta or rice; canned fruit or applesauce.
No glass, please, with the exception of baby food!
City Harvest collects food exclusively, though we can recommend programs which accept clothes and toys.

Talk to your local grocery store and see if they will discount for you. You may also get more bang for your buck by purchasing the store brands. Several months ago, my local store had a special on pasta sauces, $1 each. I talked to the manager and he called corporate. They donated 100 jars and let me buy pasta at half price for more.

I agree about asking CityHarvest. I support a somewhat similar organization here which already has hookups with wholesalers, so can do more with money than any person can with buying groceries. They do take donations from your cupboards, too. :)

If I read what you said right, what you did before the holidays was arrange for the wholesale purchase, as well as raising the money, and now you're looking for another product to arrange for? I know it works a lot differently in New York, but perhaps you could find a wholesale distributor of wholesome foods in general and see if you can get them to sell to the organization on a regular basis?

Limited cooking options is the sticking point, huh? There are a number of shelf stable meals in a box but they cost a lot more than food that needs cooking. I can't remember the name, but someone here had one she recommended as being quite good. There are also a number of Indian and Asian ones that are meant for limited kitchens, but I think they're mostly starch heavy.

I wish I could be more help.

I agree with calling to find out some more information. My church works with a local food pantry and they also have frozen foods available. The more information you have the better.

Some ideas that come to me though if you want to focus on kids would include those individual serving packs of fruit cocktail, or applesauce. I think they also make them for veggies. Some of these things are good if they do not have an adult around to prepare them. Granola bars or snack packs of graham crackers, etc are good too. Bags of trail mix may be another option.

The nutritional aspect is indeed the most difficult and I am not sure how you get around that. There just is not a lot in the way of food that is good for you that is packaged, too.

Something high in protein & vitamins would be ideal for kids' health....

That has been in the back of my mind carol....for some time. The best product high in protein and food value. I did mention, briefly, what CityHarvest requests, and i have been organizing at work the standard food drive for years....(i suppose i have a brief, disjointed writing style)....and not so clearly written. I've been to their main drop off headquarters and know the website well. I use their logo and printable posters.

What i was hoping, since i started this before the past Thanksgiving holiday, was good quality soups, cereals, quick foods from some of you that have kids, or grandkids, or elderly parents that need decent quick foods. I do get promo granola bars and keep some in my car and hand them out when i see someone in need. I just left GrandCentral an hour ago, 2am, and dropped some on three sets of sleeping homeless. It is 15 in NYC right now! So cold!
(i keep bars in my pocket always).

Pacific brand i see in my local health food store. I do remember liking a 'cup-a-soup' years ago as an emergency lunch at work. It was a good one with lots of freeze dried veggies.
Oh, just thought of nut butters, maybe a good organic fruit jam. My local Fairway has a nutella style spread. Never thought of that and how easy it is to prepare. And a good 'gorp' type of snack. Nuts, dried fruit, etc.
Or take that money and buy bulk and make a granola 'gorp'. Make a cute kid fun label.

(when i moved to NY christmas '86, i was a kid with a backpack and stayed in an SRO hotel a few weeks. Then a friends floor, then my first apt. , with a bucketload of student loans)
...fast forward to now. I've never forgotten that Christmas morning with all those kids around a tree in a lobby of a seedy mid-town hotel.

I appreciate your last post and your desire to reach out to those in need, but I'm still a bit confused about what you want to accomplish. Is your primary goal to have nutritious things you can hand out? That makes sense, given this last post, but the mac and cheese doesn't seem to fit -- and that's where I'm still confused. Or maybe you have multiple goals? Either way, I applaud the fact that you are giving thought to how to make sure your efforts are truly beneficial.

Check the nutrition details on granola bars. They are fairly wholesome, but most don't offer than much in terms of nutrition and unless they are packing some protein, they won't hold off hunger. Like that bowl of cereal that leaves you even hungrier in an hour or two. I've read criticisms of sports bars, but my college sons have some very long days with classes, rehearsals and performances that don't leave time to grab a meal when they might need it. They have both found Cliff bars provide enough nutrition and protein to help them span a length when they don't have time for a true meal. It seems that something like that would help folks who may not know when their next meal will be or where it will come form.

They also snack on nuts and fruit. I think your idea of a gorp or snack mix would allow you to combine those with the cereal, crackers, popcorn -- carbs for energy, fiber and bulk. Nut butters need something to be eaten with, whether it's crackers, fruit, pretzels, chips, bread or a spoon. They could be messier too.

Fruit leather might be a way to get donations of less than perfect fruit from stores that you could turn into a nutritious snack. You haven't mentioned baking, but if you are a baker, you can search for nutrition bar recipes, breakfast cookies. Depending on the timing of your donations, you might be able to do something like a cheese and ham or sausage kolache, wrap in a tortilla, egg muffin cup. Those are perishable but have some transportability -- better than mac and cheese.

Have I helped at all -- or missed the mark entirely?

I work at the local food bank. Meat is the most needed. Especially turkeys at Thanksgiving. We had a few people that had to do without last year, because we ran out. It broke my heart to tell them we were out.

I work at the local food bank. Meat is the most needed. Especially turkeys at Thanksgiving. We had a few people that had to do without last year, because we ran out. It broke my heart to tell them we were out.

You can buy canned chicken breast meat (& our local supermarket carries an organic brand)& there are are other canned meat products as well. Tuna is a staple, but canned salmon is also avalable.

Can't recall who gave me this tip, but people w/ low to no income may not have electricity & easy-open cans & items that do not require cooking are most appreciated.

I am a food pantry volunteer. It is a city wide, co ordinated effort. We do not need mac n cheese. What is most needed are nonfood items like toothpaste, deodorant, dish washing soap, laundry soap, toilet paper and paper towels. Things not covered by food stamps, but essential.
As far as food, ask them. It will be different, depending on your location. Good ones here would be peanut butter, canned tuna or canned chili.

According to City Harvest NYC's web site, they can feed four people a day's worth of food with a dollar. I doubt you could come close, no matter how much you network with local stores. Heck I doubt even Grainlady could! Doesn't sound like you really have the time for it, anyway. I'd write a check if I were you.

cottonwood468, that's an interesting point about needing non-food items! I am frequently solicited for donations to local food pantries and charities, but their lists of desired items only includes food or money. I started to put some toothbrushes and other toiletries in the last bag I donated, but changed my mind after re-reading their lists.

Part of the thing about nonfood items is it will vary greatly on what is accepted. Some places accept toiletries and some do not. Along that lines, baby wipes are great donations for a quick clean up without water.

I think canned chili is an excellent idea. When our church does our food pantry once a month, the toilet paper disappears. It is not surprising as that is an essential need that is expensive.

The food pantry we work with does not do turkeys as they simply do not have the freezer space for it. It is rather amazing to consider the ins and outs of a simple desire to want to help.

Toothpaste and brushes are always needed. My dentist will hit up the sales people for cases of samples and give them to me for donation. I always include a few of his business cards with them.

Be sure that the organization will accept and distribute items that are homemade or repackaged (like snack mix or grop). The food bank where I volunteer needs the food to be in the original package.

Nice of you to help.

ML

maddielee -- sounds like the idea is to have things to hand out directly to folks, not go through a kitchen or food bank. Some individuals might not want to accept or use them but others will. No idea what to expect there.

I should edit my original post. But just have a minute.
I do hand out good quality granola bars as do many of my co-workers...

But i also raise money at work for CityHarvest, an organization that feeds the hungry in NYC. As a group raising money, we want to purchase the food ourselves to donate directly to CityHarvest. I was just asking for suggestions for a food product that might be the best 'bang for the buck' in food value. We all do that while shopping for our families, be it on sale, choose one item over another, etc. Or try to put a healthy snack in our childrens lunch box.
(some nuts and dried fruit instead of a lolly pop)

I donate money directly to the food bank since they have greater buying power and that is the greatest bang for the buck -- especially when they have matching offers and your dollars are doubled. I give things I can spare out of my pantry when the schools or scouts have a food drive so I can help them do good, but the bulk is direct dollars.