I’ve volunteered for Arlington EATS, my local food pantry, for years. And I often wonder: What more can I do?
I feel this way now more than ever, as grocery prices rise and food banks struggle to keep up with demand. During its busiest week recently, EATS served 518 families, a 10 percent increase from last year.
The executive director, Andi Doane, attributes this to “years of high grocery prices while wages stay stagnant, as well as the fear of future cuts to essential programs like SNAP, Medicaid, and fuel assistance,” she says.
Approximately 18.4 percent of all households in Massachusetts reported food insecurity in September 2024, which is close to the pandemic peak of 19.5 percent. Here’s how to offset the anxiety a little bit in your own community.
Ask your local food pantry what they really need (and really don’t need). Donating food is not about spring cleaning, rummaging through your cupboard to find unopened cans of chickpeas. It should be purposeful, targeted, and useful. Call your pantry in advance to ask what’s most helpful.
“They might not need another can of tuna but could really use cereal, cooking oil, or laundry detergent instead. Or consider giving something like gluten-free, low-sodium sun butter or almond butter,” Doane suggests, which are perennial necessities.
Bigger isn’t always better. If you’re shopping for donations, size matters.
“Don’t buy the biggest box of oatmeal or cereal at Costco. It’s hard for food pantries to decide who to give a large box to — you don’t want to play favorites when there’s only one big box. Instead, buy two or three regular-sized items,” Doane says.
Run a food drive. Food drives can have a bigger impact than a la carte drop-offs: Working as a group generates more donations and more awareness. Needn’t be complex: Just ask your pantry what it needs, and then ask guests at your next book club, dinner party, or soccer game to bring something on the list, only if they’d like.
Leaving people an easy out is really important: If I’ve learned one thing about volunteering with my food pantry, it’s that you really never know who’s coping with food insecurity. Just because someone’s on your rec pickleball team or in your book club doesn’t mean they’re in the same financial boat. Food drives should be judgment-free zones.
To that end, a cardboard donation box — on the sidelines, at your doorstep, wherever — is subtler than collecting person by person.
Volunteer in person. Donating food or supplies is wonderful, but sometimes food pantries really need actual bodies: to drive delivery vans, staff shopping shifts, unload and organize inventory, and more. Plus, volunteering can offer a chance to connect with pantry shoppers: people just like you and me.
Money is always welcome. Donating funds might seem like the route of least resistance, but it’s actually hugely helpful.
“Your local food pantry can use that money to purchase a lot more food from their local food bank, such as at the Greater Boston Food Bank,” Doane says.
Get creative: Schools, shelters, and nonprofits need donations, too. A few weeks ago, my kids and several friends put together Easter baskets for kids at our local Boys and Girls Club; the director had identified several kids who could really benefit. This was a win-win, because it was meaningful for them to pick out stuff their peers would like (Sour Patch Kids! Mad Libs!), and it also filled a need that wasn’t directly addressed otherwise: We only found out because we inquired.
Maybe your neighborhood elementary school or community ed program needs to stock their snack closet for kids who come in hungry. Reach out and ask.
Visit your town’s Everything Is Free or Buy Nothing Facebook pages. This is an excellent way to get a sense of your community’s needs and to reach out directly to people who might need help. Sure, some posters are there for hand-me-downs or dorm room furniture, but plenty of others post because they’re struggling.
Try the SNAP challenge. It can be hard to truly comprehend the restrictions of food insecurity if you’ve never coped with it. In March, the Food Research & Action Center launched a SNAP Challenge to raise awareness about food insecurity: Participants were to spend the average SNAP benefit of $6 per day on groceries. Try it for a few days, anytime. This exercise underscores why supplemental safety nets, like food pantries, are so essential.
Last, but definitely not least: Only donate what you’d like to eat. “I’m always trying to remind folks to stop giving food pantries the stuff that’s in the back of your cupboard and is old. If you don’t want it, no one else wants it — and it makes more work, sometimes at a cost, to food pantries,” Doane says.
Kara Baskin can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @kcbaskin.
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