Feed your soul: How to donate to a food bank

Residents who like to share the bounty of the holiday season with the less fortunate will find local food banks and meal programs eager for donations.

While hunger is a year-round need, the public is more aware of it this time of year, said Holly Firmin, marketing manager for Food Lifeline, which serves food banks in 17 Western Washington counties.

Northwest Harvest, for example, runs its big annual food drive in early December and receives more than three-quarters of its food donations during the holidays, said Claire Acey, director of communications for the nonprofit, which distributes food to nearly 300 food banks and meal programs in Washington.

"Donating food is one of the simplest, most rewarding, and most direct ways to give back," Acey said. "Each can of food you contribute makes a difference."

Food banks can always use peanut butter and canned tuna, but holiday-dinner items are especially welcome. This includes canned items such as cranberry, yams, peas, mixed vegetables and gravy, as well as dehydrated mashed potatoes and boxed rice pilaf.

Donors who opt to give money instead of tangible food items know nonprofit groups can stretch their donations farther by taking advantage of bulk discounts, Firmin said. "We can procure items more cheaply than someone shopping at a grocery store," she noted. "We're able to turn their donation into more food."

What they need

To find out what food banks most need, The Times asked three umbrella organizations that supply food banks to share their most-requested items. Visit their Web sites for specific drop-off locations.

Food Lifeline : High-protein foods (canned tuna, peanut butter, beef stew, canned or dry beans, canned nuts); children's favorites (macaroni and cheese, canned or boxed juices, Enfamil infant formula, diapers); canned foods (fruit, vegetables, soup, tomato products) and dry goods (rice, pasta, cereal, crackers, oatmeal, spices). www.foodlifeline.org

Northwest Harvest : High nutritional value items such as canned meats (chicken or tuna), peanut butter, chili, soups, stews, canned or powered milk. Also welcomes canned vegetables and fruit, baby food, macaroni and cheese and cereal. www.northwestharvest.org

Hopelink : Special holiday food items such as yams and olives and baking ingredients such as evaporated milk, baking mixes, sugar and flour; and gift certificates for grocery stores. Ongoing needs include tuna or other canned meat, peanut butter, pasta, rice, cereal, soup, canned fruit, canned vegetables and tomato products, onions and potatoes. www.hope-link.org

More options

United Way of King County lists many opportunities for adopting a family during the holidays, which often includes a food basket. www.volunteersolutions.org/uwkc/volunteer

Seattle's Union Gospel Mission , which serves three meals a day year-round to the homeless downtown, requests special Thanksgiving items such as frozen turkeys and hams, dinner rolls, bread crumbs, fresh fruit and vegetables, and potatoes; and breakfast items such as eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage, ground coffee and orange juice. It does not need canned pumpkin or cranberry. Ongoing needs include protein bars and snack foods; fresh or frozen meat or fish; milk, sugar, pancake syrup, jam/jelly, cold cereal; canned fruit or vegetables, canned refried beans or chili; small bottles of water; hot dogs, buns, condiments; large canisters of hot chocolate or powered drink mix; and bags of candy. www.ugm.org

Emergency Feeding Program of Seattle & King County, which provides complete meals to people in crisis hunger situations, requests 24-ounce cans of beef stew and 3-ounce boxes of pudding for its November "food of the month." www.emergencyfeeding.org

What to avoid

Hopelink, which operates several food banks in Shoreline and the Eastside, prefers to receive family-size items, rather than restaurant sizes (such as from Costco). For a time-crunched nonprofit, "it takes us a lot of time to separate a large bag of flour, for example, into smaller portions suitable to give out to families coming through the food bank," explained Denise Stephens, public- relations specialist.

The most handy items are ready-to-make; a can of pumpkin purée might be hard for "folks coming to a food bank who don't have all the necessary materials to make a pie," explained Firmin.

Items that come in sturdy packages (cans or boxes) are usually best, Acey advises. Glass is fragile and items in bags are easily crushed.

Folks who want to donate a frozen holiday turkey should check with their local food bank to find out if it has freezer space to store turkeys.

While homemade cookies or breads are a nice thought, food banks can't accept homemade foods, open or partially used items or noncommercially packaged items because of food-safety guidelines.

Stephanie Dunnewind: sdunnewind@seattletimes.com or 206-464-2091