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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 12:14 AM
Original message
Feed a U.S. Family for Five Weeks for a tax deductable $25.00
Edited on Sat Nov-29-08 12:15 AM by Breeze54
Feed a U.S. Family for Five Weeks $25.00

https://shop.thehungersite.com/store/item.do?itemId=32360&siteId=220&sourceId=28529&sourceClass=SuggestedItem&index=6

Your gift of $25 will feed a family of four for five weeks, giving help and hope to those who need it most, through the work of Feeding America (formerly America's Second Harvest-The Nation's Food Bank Network).

Feeding America is the United States' largest charitable hunger-relief organization, with a network of more than 200 member food banks and food-rescue organizations serving all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Right now, many member food banks and food-rescue organizations are seeing an increase in demand, as high as 20% in some areas.

Upon purchase, you will receive an automated e-mail with a link to a full-color certificate of acknowledgment that you may print and frame for display or gift-giving. Adobe Acrobat Reader, or equivalent .pdf viewing program, is required to open the file. The certificate makes a great "instant" gift for an honored colleague, family member or friend.

Please note: Your purchase is tax-deductible in the U.S.A., and you will receive a receipt from GreaterGood.org for your taxes. 100% of this gift goes to Feeding America as a grant through GreaterGood.org. GreaterGood Network stores do not receive any profit from the sale of this Gift That Gives More™; we bring it to you in the spirit of the greater good. GreaterGood.org has ultimate authority and discretion with regard to the distribution of its funds. All expenditures made are consistent with the exempt purposes of GreaterGood.org.



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rucky Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 12:16 AM
Response to Original message
1. How is that possible?
that's pennies per meal
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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 12:16 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. They buy in bulk.
:hi:
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Ms. Toad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 12:51 AM
Response to Reply #2
5. A lot of it is food that would otherwise have
been discarded - I believe a lot of the cost is in the "rescue" rather than the actual food cost.
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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 12:55 AM
Response to Reply #5
7. That's not true. It's good, wholesome, nutritious food. Just like
what you buy in the grocery stores. Same cereals and diapers and canned goods.
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Gormy Cuss Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 01:11 AM
Response to Reply #7
9. Yes, it is true. The food that would have been discarded is still good food.
Edited on Sat Nov-29-08 01:24 AM by Gormy Cuss
Supermarkets (and manufacturers) remove some items before they're no longer good enough to eat for a variety of reasons. It's good quality food but no longer needed or wanted in the inventory and writing it off as donated is better sometimes than writing it off as spoilage or waste.

One example: at the food bank where my mother volunteered a local manufacturer of breaded fish for restaurants would send cases of "seconds," the fillets that weren't the proper weight or were not as evenly breaded as the product desired by the restaurants. There was nothing wrong with the freshness or flavor.

Another story she told was when a chain anticipated too high a demand for a product (say, a holiday ham or frozen vegetables) and knew after sales reports were in that they wouldn't be able to move all of the product before it was too old and tired to sell at a good price. Rather than sell it at a ridiculously low price in the store, sometimes the decision is to donate it to a food bank instead.


Of course, food banks also use the donation money wisely in the purchase of food directly from wholesalers to get the best price. Thank you for posting this thread to bring attention to Feeding America/Second Harvest.
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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 02:25 AM
Response to Reply #9
11. NOT in this program I posted in the OP... maybe your local FP gets discards from local stores..
many get those donations but Feeding America buys from the companies and gets donations.

National Produce Program

http://feedingamerica.org/our-network/network-programs/national-produce-program.aspx

This program offers a comprehensive array of services built around securing and
distributing fresh produce throughout the Feeding America network. Read more.

How We Work

Feeding America is a Network


Our organization is made up of individuals, local food banks, national offices, as well as corporate and government partners. Together, we are bigger, better, stronger and more efficient than the sum of our parts. Working as a cohesive system is the only way we can truly solve the hunger crisis.


Securing Food

Feeding America works with large corporate donors to secure food and grocery products on a national level to distribute, as needed, to local food banks. The relationship that the Feeding America organization builds with larger corporations also helps facilitate a relationship between your local food bank and your local grocery store, for example.



Providing Funds

Through a grant process, Feeding America provides national funding to local food banks. It’s easier and more efficient for a single, larger charity to procure grants, than it would be for many local food banks to compete for a limited amount of funds. The grants that our organization receives are most often created to fund innovation at the local level, so that food banks can test new and better ways to secure and distribute food.

Standardizing Care

Because we’re a national organization, we can work toward ensuring that all food bank members across the country are equally and properly trained. We also help set standards for food safety, financial systems and record keeping as well as transportation and donor relations.

Advocating

Because we are a national group, it’s easier for us to give a voice to those who aren’t heard. Because of our strong relationship with the U.S. government, Feeding America is the primary recipient of government commodities, such as those from the Emergency Food Assistance Program. As a charity with national reach, we can engage the public and raise awareness of this critical issue on a national and local level.

Food Distribution

At times of natural disaster, or simply in everyday business, working as a national organization helps us to see where needs are strongest. One local food bank may receive an excess of a certain commodity, while another is feeling a need for that product. Moving food and employees where they are needed most is a strategic advantage in the fight against hunger.

For every $1 you donate, Feeding America helps provide 20 pounds of food
and grocery products to men, women and children facing hunger in our country.
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Gormy Cuss Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 10:40 AM
Response to Reply #11
15. Second Harvest/Feeding America "secures" many kinds of donations.
The mission has always been in part to divert food that otherwise would be wasted.

http://feedingamerica.org/partners/product-partners/distressed-unsaleable-product.aspx

Distressed/Unsaleable Product

Each year, billions pounds of safe food and grocery products are pulled off grocery store shelves and removed from circulation. Without intervention, these items would be thrown away and wasted. But with 35 millions Americans in struggling with hunger in this country, corporations need to stop dumping products that are still healthy and safe for consumption.

With the help of our partners, Feeding America can put these products in the hands of those who need them....


Feeding America acts as the coordinator between food producers and sellers and the local food banks. That is one of the reasons they can leverage such a small amount of cash into so many meals. It's one of many tools used, but distributing good, nutritious food that would otherwise end up in a dumpster is one of the oldest parts of the Second Harvest story.

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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 02:13 PM
Response to Reply #15
19. I already said that and posted it but thanks. n/t
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Ms. Toad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 10:35 PM
Response to Reply #19
23. Actually, in another branch of this thread
you have been vehemently arguing against me when I said, "A lot of it is food that would otherwise have been discarded - I believe a lot of the cost is in the "rescue" rather than the actual food cost." (Somehow you have twisted it into an assertion I never made that what Second Harvest does is provide outdated food, but nonetheless you have been insisting I was wrong.) Now you are agreeing with, and claiming credit, for saying that "distributing good, nutritious food that would otherwise end up in a dumpster is one of the oldest parts of the Second Harvest story" ??

I give up.
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Dorian Gray Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 09:18 AM
Response to Reply #19
40. Weren't you arguing
with that statement just a few posts above?


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bread_and_roses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 08:34 AM
Response to Reply #11
38. The "hunger crisis" will never be "solved" by working with Corporate "partners"
The "huger crisis" arises from un/under-employment, low-wages, and the lack of a sane safety-net like a guaranteed national income (the revolting over-processed, nutrient-stripped, fossil-fuel dependent products of these "partner" Corporations play a role too, but that's a different thread).

Pretending that the system that has grown up to ameliorate grave social injustices by collaborating with the very forces that perpetuate and profit from that injustice is ever going to "solve" anything is part of the hypocrisy that I cannot abide from organizations like Second Harvest.

Most revealing is the constant promotion of the idea that the "solution" to hunger and food insecurity is for ordinary people to donate more to charity. I am reminded of those dreadful commercials telling us to adopt a child from a Third-World country to "get them out of this"- the same commercials having run for thirty years or more with no appreciable diminishment of "this" from the donated $$.

I don't want to see anyone go hungry, but this is not the anwer and never will be. Which is why the few $$ that I have to donate anywhere will never go to any organization like Second Harvest. I'd rather put them somewhere working for actual change, not to support the tax deductions of rapacious, profiteering corporations.
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Ms. Toad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 07:24 PM
Response to Reply #38
48. Suit yourself -
But while I'm waiting around for the revolution to solve the underlying crisis, I would rather make sure that good food is not going to waste when there are hungry bellies to be filled. I am well aware that donating to hunger charities does not solve the underlying problem, but may at least keep people alive until there is better national safety net.

As far as bang for whatever money you can afford to donate, $.98 of every $1.00 received by Second Harvest/Feeding America goes to providing food to hungry people. (The other $.02 are split evenly between fundraising and administrative expenses.)

I am not fond of the sponsor a family donation gimmick - any more than I like any other fund raising tactic which bribes donors to give (prizes for donating to public radio, access to the executive director and special mailings for large donations, letters from "your" child, etc.) I have argued vehemently against tiered rewards/public recognition in exchange for financial contributions in the organizations where I have any control. If it didn't work, however, those kinds of gimmicks would disappear pretty quickly - and unfortunately they seem to be increasing rather than decreasing so there must be more and more people who will not donate without some tangible payback.
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bread_and_roses Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 08:23 PM
Response to Reply #48
49. My issue is with the food Companies, not people who donate. But there is no crisis
Which does not mean that people are not going hungry - they are, indefensibly so in this still-rich country. A crisis would be a lack of available food. What we have is a distribution issue. A capitalism issue. There's plenty of food to go around. And subsidizing the very industries that profiteer off the rapacious practices that create hunger will never solve anything. We feed one person here, another goes hungry there.

A great deal of the food that ends up in food pantries may be edible but is not good if good means wholesome and nutritious (I worked nearly twenty-five years in human services, and am quite familiar with virtually every pantry in our area).

As I said, I have no quarrel with people who do donate. Good people want to do something; what each chooses to do out of good motives is up to them. I happen to think it is futile, but don't ask others to agree with me. My initial post in this thread was in response to the blather quoted from Second Harvest about "solving" the food "crisis" in "partnership" with corporations.
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Ms. Toad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 01:45 AM
Response to Reply #7
10. There are lots of reasons food would be discarded
Doesn't mean it isn't good, wholesome, nutritious food just because it was going to be discarded. That was the primary reason the organization was started - to rescue good, wholesome, nutritious food that was being discarded and put it to use feeding the hungry.

The organization was formerly known as Second Harvest - referencing a second harvest from food already harvested a first time. It has recently changed its name, and the current descriptions do not expressly describe the second harvest/rescue nature of its former name, but so far as I am aware that is still a primary MO of the organization. It is a lot cheaper to move rescued food around than it is to purchase it in bulk plus move it - that is how it can provide a meal for around $.18

>>Founded in 1979, America's Second Harvest distributed 2.5 million pounds of food through a network of thirteen food banks during its first year of operation. The organization's network has grown to include more than 200 regional food banks and food-rescue programs in all fifty states that together distribute one billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually. The food assistance reaches more than 23 million hungry Americans, including nine million children and 2.5 million seniors.<< (emphasis added)

http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/spotlight/spotlight.jhtml?id=25800046
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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 02:26 AM
Response to Reply #10
12. They can't distribute out dated foods.
It's against the health laws.

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Ms. Toad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 11:30 AM
Response to Reply #12
16. What Second Harvest/Feeding America does
is a good thing.

Why are you so resistant to the idea that food that is perfectly good for human consumption is being rescued and delivered to people who need it by an organization that was founded to do just that? Do you think perfectly good food, and other items, should end up in a landfill rather than in the mouths of people who are hungry? Did you even read the article I linked you to that says, "The organization solicits donated food and grocery products from the nation's growers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in order to distribute it to hungry people across America. The donations consist primarily of surplus food that might otherwise go to waste." Spend a little time with Google and learn the history of the wonderful organization you are promoting.

If you read my post, I do not believe you will find any reference to out dated foods.

FWIW, however, the distribution of out dated foods would be governed by state laws - and whether it is legal probably varies from state to state. I suspect if it is legal under state laws to distribute the out dated food, local chapters of Second Harvest/Feeding America would include such food. You are aware that the "sell by" date on much food (particularly nonperishable items) has more to do with protecting profits of the food manufacturer than it does with food safety, right? Canned goods, for example, slowly lose nutritional value over time from the day they are canned - they don't suddenly go from being nutritious to not being nutritious on the magic date stamped on the can, nor do they become unsafe if they were properly canned in the first place - and if they were not canned properly in the first place they will be unsafe well before any date stamped on the can.
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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 02:10 PM
Response to Reply #16
18. "we cannot use ... food which has gone ‘out-of-date’" - "outdated must go in the trash."
Edited on Sat Nov-29-08 02:14 PM by Breeze54
What's new at the Food Bank

http://www.chattfoodbank.org/news.htm

snip-->

The process begins with a trip to the Chattanooga Area Food Bank (CAFB) to restock our shelves. This huge warehouse distributes food to food pantries in several SE TN counties. Our Food Bank staff purchases items at a discount through the CAFB. We can buy a whole case of cereal for about the same price that the regular consumer would pay for one box at the grocery store! After making their selections, CAFB staffers use fork trucks to load it on our trucks or trailers. For the past few months a local tire distributor has allowed us to use their large enclosed truck (filled with gas) when we go to the CAFB to pick up large loads of food. This makes it very easy to load a lot of food, and to keep the boxes dry when the weather is bad.

snip-->

The Food Bank can always use donations of any canned goods. One important thing to keep in mind is that we cannot use food in badly dented or rusted cans or food which has gone ‘out-of-date’. Canned goods that are rusty or outdated must go in the trash. We cannot endanger our clients’ health with questionable food. Our Food Bank is inspected regularly by USDA through the Chattanooga Area Food Bank.

more...

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Ms. Toad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 10:26 PM
Response to Reply #18
21. You are fixated on outdated food
which I said NOTHING about in my original post.

(In response to your earlier comment, I suggested that regardless of how your state handles outdated food, it may well be handled differently by different states. Nothing you have said in this post even suggests otherwise.)

Again, do some basic research on the organization you are promoting. You are going to the CAFB to purchase foods - Second Harvest would likely be involved in the supply of the food to CAFB. Just because you are purchasing food from the CAFB does not mean that the food was purchased by CAFB - if Second Harvest/Feeding America was involved in supplying CAFB, it is likely that little or none of it was purchased. The collection and distribution of surplus food or food that that would otherwise be discarded to food banks is one of the primary services that Second Harvest provides/Feeding America.

The fact that the food is primarily donated food that would otherwise be discarded does not require any or all of the food that it presumably supplies the CAFB to be out dated.
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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 10:51 PM
Response to Reply #21
24. You are the one that keeps insisting they get crap old food... I said they don't and can't
Edited on Sat Nov-29-08 10:52 PM by Breeze54
distribute that old, outdated, food.

DU has sponsored America's Harvest, last year, and I'm not arguing with you.

I don't understand why you'd come into a thread about helping poor people

and say that AH gives out out dated food. I understand that some food pantries

take donations from whomever but they shouldn't be giving out out dated food.

That was my point. My only point.

Have a great night.
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Ms. Toad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 03:38 AM
Response to Reply #24
29. Please point out the specific post where I said they distribute
outdated or crap food. I have no clue why you keep insisting that I said they give out outdated food - it is not something I ever said. I don't appreciate having words put in my mouth and then being blasted for things I never said.

My original comment was, " A lot of it is food that would otherwise have been discarded." In my second post, I quoted a philanthropic review of Second Harvest/Feeding America which said, "The donations consist primarily of surplus food that might otherwise go to waste." NOTHING in EITHER statement says a thing about "outdated" or "crap" food.

In another branch of this discussion someone else posted the substantially identical comment, "Feeding America acts as the coordinator between food producers and sellers and the local food banks. That is one of the reasons they can leverage such a small amount of cash into so many meals. It's one of many tools used, but distributing good, nutritious food that would otherwise end up in a dumpster is one of the oldest parts of the Second Harvest story." Your response to that comment was, " I already said that and posted it but thanks." So - if you already said it and posted it, why are you insisting that what I said was that the food they distribute is outdated or crap, when my comments are substantially identical to a comment you claim to have made yourself?

Just because something is going to be discarded does not necessarily mean it is outdated, or crap. Perfectly good food with nice fancy Thanksgiving packaging - or overstocked food that is marketable primarily for the Thanksgiving holiday will likely be making its way to Second Harvest/Feeding America this week, for example.

If you are going to criticize what I have said, please actually read and respond to what I said, not what you imagine I said.



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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 03:44 AM
Response to Reply #29
30. Shove it.. apparently your EGO is more important than poor people's survival.
GET A LIFE!!!

:eyes:
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Ms. Toad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 03:57 AM
Response to Reply #30
34. No, I don't appreciate being accused of saying
things I didn't say, then being blasted for them.

I have asked you repeatedly to point out where I said the things you accuse me of saying, and all you keep doing is repeating the same baseless accusation.

The organization you say you are supporting is doing fantastic work on two fronts - keeping good food out of the dumpster AND feeding hungry people. For some reason you want to pretend it is buying all of the food it feeds to people, which ignores half of the mission of the organization.
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Dorian Gray Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 09:24 AM
Response to Reply #30
42. Wow
She didn't say what you are arguing she said. She said that they would rescue food that would go to waste, not OUTDATED foods. There is a huge difference. Loads of restaurants, supermarkets, wholesalers donate foods for a variety of reasons. They are all rescued foods. (Not just because their sell by dates expired.)

You're anger in this argument is really perplexing. Especially since the other poster supports what the charity is doing... a charity that you are trying to get people to donate to. (It's a charity that I've supported for years. Their food rescue programs help feed thousands upon thousands in our country, and they are a fantastic organization!)


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Ms. Toad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 07:06 PM
Response to Reply #42
47. Thanks. n/t
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Dorian Gray Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 09:20 AM
Response to Reply #12
41. Who said anything about rescuing
outdated food?


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Hannah Bell Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 03:44 AM
Response to Reply #1
13. It's the same as the "government cheese" of the 50s-60s.
Edited on Sat Nov-29-08 03:45 AM by Hannah Bell
Capitalist production usually, for various reasons, produces more goods than can be sold at prevailing prices.

Theoretically, producers, in competing with each other, should lower their prices to move the goods, forcing weaker producers out. But in situations of oligopoly, they don't. They keep prices up, & dump the unsold goods - or for generous tax write-offs, donate them to "charity," where they can be used without driving prices down.

This is a new variation on the old scam - getting well-intentioned people to buy the unsold goods "for charity" at lower prices (so as not to drive down prices on the consumer market) in addition to the government-sponsored tax write-offs.

Someone's making money on the deal.
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Ms. Toad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 12:01 PM
Response to Reply #13
17. Second Harvest does not buy the goods
Edited on Sat Nov-29-08 12:02 PM by Ms. Toad
- for the most part - they are donated. This is not a "new variation on the old scam." Second Harvest/Feeding America is a well respected organization that was founded in the late 70s to coordinate the massive food waste (associated with overbuying, seasonal promotions, crops which exceed the amount that can be sold, etc.) with the equally massive hunger. Donations are needed because food doesn't magically move itself from point A to point B - there are costs involved. Calling it a scam is an insult to the founders who figured out how to address two wrongs they saw - food being discarded, and people going hungry.

Could the corporate entities make the food available at more affordable costs in the stores - sure. But they won't because it isn't in their business plan. As long as the food is going to be discarded, I am in favor of rescuing it and distributing it to families who need it. If it takes a slight incentive (the difference in tax treatment between a charitable donation and a loss write-off), I am still in favor of encouraging diversion of food from the landfill to hungry mouths.
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Hannah Bell Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 04:57 PM
Response to Reply #17
20. i didn't say second harvest, i said "somebody".
"rescuing it" = paying the corps, who also get a tax deduction for their "gift".

i don't have a problem with feeding the hungry, but a big issue with *why* they're hungry & the hypocrisy of such "charity".
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Ms. Toad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 10:28 PM
Response to Reply #20
22. Actually, there is generally no payment.
There is a tax deduction for the donation, but the food itself is generally donated as an alternative to tossing it.
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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 10:53 PM
Response to Reply #22
25. I've been a recipient of pantry food and the "sell by" dates are not near the 'toss dates' at all. n
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Hannah Bell Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 11:17 PM
Response to Reply #22
26. my post wAs a response to the OP, where people are invited to purchase
food to donate to the hungry.

the facts are as i stated.

someone's making money, either way.
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Ms. Toad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 04:10 AM
Response to Reply #26
35. That's just a donation gimmick.
Just like being asked to "purchase" an hour of public radio. What you are really being asked to do is donate to cover the costs associated with providing that quantity of food. It's sad that people need to have a gimmick to help hungry people, but apparently it works or they wouldn't keep using it.

Second Harvest/Feeding America primarily rescues food that would otherwise end up in landfills and redistributes it to hungry people, serving two purposes - cutting down on the massive food waste in this country and feeding people who otherwise would not have access to good, nutritious food. The money covers the costs associated with the rescue and redistribution. At least on the "purchase food" end with the organization being promoted, no one is making money.

As to why there is excess nutritious food heading for the landfill - and who is making enough money on the original harvest of that food that it is better business to dump it rather than sell it at a more reasonable price in the first place is a good question - but it has nothing to do with the mission or operation of this organization.
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 06:29 AM
Response to Reply #35
36. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
Cleita Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 12:38 AM
Response to Original message
3. I wish I could figure out how to feed myself on $25 a week, then
maybe I'd have some extra.
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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 12:44 AM
Response to Reply #3
4. I do it all the time... 2 people @ $50.00 per week
and we eat good! I just shop for bargains, buy only what we will eat and I
plan meals ahead and we eat leftovers for lunch the next day, if there are any.
We don't eat meat every day and I make a lot of meals that stretch my dollar.
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Cleita Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 12:55 AM
Response to Reply #4
6. I've really tried I can't. Maybe it's where I live that food is so expensive and
I do go to the cheaper stores that are close by other than that any savings driving to the next city is eaten up in gas. I eat the same thing for days if I have to because dinners for one are hard to do but I can make a meatloaf and eat it all week. I am pretty fed up with it by then though. Also, it's the same with chicken. If I cook one. I have to eat it all week long. I really don't like to freeze meals because they just get forgotten and eventually thrown out. Also, I can't buy in bulk because I live in a trailer and have very little extra storage space. I did go on a tortilla a beans diet one week, and that was much cheaper, but still I ended up living on the same thing all week long. Of course my food allowance also includes everything I buy at the store besides food like paper products and over the counter meds (always generic) and medical supplies I need to apply stuff like swabs, rubber gloves etc.
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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 12:59 AM
Response to Reply #6
8. But if you cook one chicken and then
Edited on Sat Nov-29-08 01:00 AM by Breeze54
divide it up and make 4 different meals out of it, then you can have variety. ;)
Or buy a roast (cheaper by the pound than buying ground beef or steak) and
have the meat cutter cut it up and grind some up for you. Then make burgers, stew,
steak and what have you! I hear you on the storage and I don't buy in bulk either
but I can get 4 double rolls of T paper for less than $2.50 and that is about the
same price as if I bought in bulk. There's lots of ways to save and stretch your money.
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silverojo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Nov-29-08 03:48 AM
Response to Reply #4
14. Honey, you can't do that if your family has health problems
Special diets are pretty costly. Just because you're healthy enough to eat that way doesn't mean the rest of us are.

Thanks for the OP, though. :)
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tomreedtoon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 01:43 AM
Response to Original message
27. But you can't deduct anything from your taxes.
You have to make contributions of at least 8 percent of your income to be able to deduct anything from your taxes. So claiming something is "tax deductible" is a lie.

I don't argue with the cause. Helping people is a good thing. But don't imagine that you get any financial reward for it. The only reward you can receive is spiritual (if you believe in that) and emotional. Don't try appealing to people's greed, especially since charitable deductions don't exist except for the very richest taxpayers.


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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 03:46 AM
Response to Reply #27
31. If you need financial reward for helping, then don't help!
:grr:
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tomreedtoon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 10:30 AM
Response to Reply #31
43. I thought I was making that point.
My big point is that offering tax breaks for donations, when in fact you can't get tax breaks for charitable deductions, is fraudulent.

I'm giving to Toys for Tots this year. I know my tax-undeductible gifts will make kids happy. And I know the gifts will actually go to kids. But to give to an organization that lies about reasons for donating...especially one based on self-interest...I don't think I trust them.

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Ms. Toad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 10:54 AM
Response to Reply #43
44. What is the self interest?
All it is doing is raising money so that it can feed hungry people and put to use good food that would otherwise go to waste.

In addition, you absolutely can get tax breaks for charitable deductions - every single person who has any income at all may deduct all charitable deductions from their income for tax purposes (except in the upper income when you run into alternative minimum tax limitations, or when you are donating disproportionately large amounts to charity). Toys for Tots advertises contributions to its organization as tax deductible - just like Feeding America/Second Harvest does (e.g. http://www.mclwestchester.org/Programs/ToysForTots.aspx )

Many people CHOOSE not to deduct their charitable donations because the flat amount the government lets everyone subtract (the standard deduction)) is larger than their itemized (which include charitable) deductions, so it is a better deal for them. That doesn't mean you are prohibited from choosing to list out and deduct the possibly smaller donations you made to charity (along with other things like mortgage interest, state taxes, property taxes, etc.

Do a little independent research - this charity is one of the best.
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Ms. Toad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 07:03 PM
Response to Reply #43
46. By the way,
$.96 of every dollar raised (including in kind donations of toys) by Toys for Tots goes to program services. That's extremely good - but Second Harvest/Feeding America is even better at $.98 of every dollar raised (including donated food) going to program services.

(http://charityreports.bbb.org/public/Report.aspx?CharityID=1599 and http://charityreports.bbb.org/public/Report.aspx?CharityID=2331 )

Both these organization are excellent choices for charitable gifts, if your guide is whether the donation you make actually serves the constituents of the organization (as opposed to going to raise more money or administer the program).
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Ms. Toad Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 03:52 AM
Response to Reply #27
33. Your tax assertion is not correct.
Charitable donations are deductible from the first penny you donate. Medical expenses are only deductible once they exceed 7.5% of your income, and certain miscellaneous deductions (e.g., unreimbursed business expenses, tax preparation fees) are only deductible once they exceed 2% of your income, but other deductions (such as charitable donations, state tax payments, real estate taxes, mortgage interest) are 100% deductible.

That said, everyone has a choice between itemizing their deductions (listing them out - including every dollar donated to charity) OR taking a flat "standard deduction." For most people without a lot of deductible items, the standard deduction is bigger than the itemized deductions, so it isn't worth it to separately list and deduct the charitable contributions. (But the question of whether you itemize is not based on exceeding 8% of of your income.)
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ColbertWatcher Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 02:02 AM
Response to Original message
28. Dr. Colbert is auctioning off the boots he wore on his Christmas special ...
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Breeze54 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 03:46 AM
Response to Reply #28
32. Thanks for that, ColbertWatcher !!
:hug:

:cry:
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ColbertWatcher Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 02:00 PM
Response to Reply #32
45. You're welcome. n/t
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D-Lee Donating Member (457 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 07:51 AM
Response to Original message
37. Free click to donate food for the hungry -- http://www.TheHungerSite.com
Edited on Sun Nov-30-08 07:53 AM by D-Lee
You can donate daily for free by just a click of your mouse at this website ... http://www.TheHungerSite.com

There is a Yahoo widget which adds the Hunger Site link to your desktop so you can click everyday, download from: http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/hunger-site

And thanks for bringing up this topic!
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aikoaiko Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Nov-30-08 09:09 AM
Response to Original message
39. They should do a buy 2, get one deal.

I'd gladly pay 50 dollars if I got food for week for my family. and the second $25 could help someone else.


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