How You Can Give to Others with Little Cost

Here's an interesting comment left on my post titled Free Rotisserie Chickens at Sam's Club:

After thinking about it overnight, our student ministry asks Panera Bread and local grocery stores for the bread that they are going to throw away. We promise them that, we would give it to the homeless shelter in town, if we didn't eat it. We generally just do 2 stores because we have so much. (Usually one trunk full of bread). It's really amazing how much they over cook!

This is a great idea!

My church does the same thing -- collects bread, pies, cakes, etc. from local bakeries and gives them away to the needy. It's an easy way to help those less fortunate.

The same can be done by anyone (I'm guessing) with enough time, determination, and backing of some sort of organization (to lend credibility.) Simply bring the idea to the organization and get their approval, then start hitting the local eateries to get their commitments. Then make regular collections and drop offs at a homeless shelter, food bank, and the like.

To me it's a way that people who may not have the ability to give financially can make a big difference in the lives of others.

Sound like a good idea to you?

Comments

[Brandon J]

I don't know if you care about these blog tags. But I tagged you anyway, I thought you wouldn't mind an extra incoming link.

http://moneyformilitary.blogspot.com/2007/05/ive-been-tagged.html

Brandon J
Money for Military

[Mike]

I always wonder what happens to the leftovers at Whole Foods.

[James]

I might be tempted to eat the bread...

[FMF]

Brandon --

I don't mind them but I don't participate. I've done enough of those sorts of posts for one lifetime. ;-)

[cami]

You might want to check on your local policies because some cities have regulations in place that prevent storing from just giving away free food (or allowing people to donate perishable food), due to concerns of food safety. Here's an article about some recent crackdowns. http://tinyurl.com/2bvw97

When I lived in Colorado I had some friends that said that stores would tell them when the food would be put out, but they couldn't "give" it to them, because they were worried about the liability issues.