Spring cleaning is time to donate from your pantry

Being a dutiful husband and son, participation in “spring cleaning” is a required rite of passage.

As a husband, the work generally consists of toting this barge and lifting that bale. I deal with items that are in three categories: donate to Goodwill, donate to Feeding Team, and donate to the nearest dumpster. If I can be of assistance lending some additional hands, the sore muscles are worth the smile on my wife’s face.

As a young lad, anxious to get to the any sport that required a field, lines, and a ball, spring cleaning was a multi-day command operation that would have made General Patton envious over its precision.

Consistent over the last five-plus decades is the removal of overages from the home pantry. I don’t know if there is some unwritten rule about this stuff, but it sure seems to me that if it hasn’t been worn in a year, it goes; if it looks suspicious, it goes; and if it’s been on the shelf long enough for the best used by date to be within a couple of fortnights (yes, I had to look up what it meant), it had to go! It’s as if the nutrients in the non-perishables would somehow turn toxic and make those of us who consume them turn into the incredible hulk.

While we all appreciate the precautions and abundance of love shown by those doing the sorting and omitting, these very same products can mean the difference to many neighbors – between calories that day, or hunger. The use by expiration date on perishables and the best use by date on non-perishables are two different and unique measurements. Nonperishables in a FeedingTeam.org pantry rarely remain in the pantry for more than a few days. That means that even though it wasn’t used at your home, it can be a meal at someone else’s.

This public service reminder is simple:

Please, as you turn over inventory in your personal home pantries, before you throw that can of sauerkraut away, consider putting it in one of our pantries. Better yet, combine it with some leftover canned pumpkin that didn’t get used last Thanksgiving, add any other items that didn’t make your spring-cleaning cut, and bring them by the donation bin at our offices. We exist to fight the battle against hunger. Our goal is to always have a meal in each pantry, so no neighbor goes hungry. Your gifts become miracles for others.

As a “Take What You Need, Give What You Can” model, your donations are responsible for hundreds of meals each week. Although you may never see the recipient, know in quiet satisfaction that you are making a difference in the lives of many Hoosier families right here in central Indiana.

Feeding Team provides a way and a place for those in need to get food for their family. While each pantry really is just a big wooden yellow box, it means so much more for donors and for families in need. You are welcome to join us as together we fight to eliminate hunger in Hamilton County.

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With over 40,000 food-challenged neighbors in Hamilton County, FeedingTeam.org is a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that provides outdoor 24/7/365 no-questions-asked free food pantries throughout the county.

The pantries exist to meet the food insecurity needs of gap families, neighbors who may not qualify for public assistance and could use a few meals before payday. The pantries serve as many food-challenged neighbors as possible, and our hearts are with those who, like my family, could not always make ends meet.

Thank you for supporting the pantries. We love serving with so many neighbors across Hamilton County. In future columns, we will share more stories about how your generosity served neighbors in times of need. The face of hunger in Hamilton County is not what you may think.

In practical terms, this straightforward way to help neighbors is having real impact on lives, families, and our communities. Thank you. A few meals can change the course of a person’s life. A can of green beans means so much more when you have nothing to feed your kids.

Would you like to get involved? Volunteer opportunities are available. We are evaluating new pantry locations. If you think you have a potential location, please contact us.

Mark and Lisa Hall are the Founders of Feeding Team. They may be reached at lisa@feedingteam.org and mark@feedingteam.org or by calling (317) 832-1123.