They don’t have a facility within about 100 miles of me, but I first heard of them last night and checked out a few YouTube videos. The first one was hosted by a mother of 10 who said there were a few things her family didn’t eat, but they could pass them on to other people who could use them, and another was from a mother of 4 who also had 9 day-care kids. They got a lot of bulk items, and unfortunately a lot of junk food too, mostly very spicy chips or other snacks in single-serving bags.
People who wish to use this service purchase a $25 share, no income questions asked (it’s not covered by SNAP) and on pantry day, they go from station to station and people, most likely volunteers, place assorted short-dated and surplus foods in their vehicle. Customers have to provide their own containers.
Here’s their website. It was founded by a pastor, who himself died a couple years ago, and named in honor of his grandmother.
I haven’t, but one of my co-workers goes quite often. He tells me about his haul every once in a while. I don’t know how you could possibly eat all of the food or even store all of it. 20lbs of potatoes, 3 gallons of milk close to expiration, huge restaurant size trays of frozen cheesy potatoes, 3 whole chickens, giant bags of frozen eggs already cooked for breakfast sandwiches, 5 loaves of bread, the list goes on. They are empty-nesters too! He shares some of the stuff with his daughter (single, no kids). I’ve been tempted to try it out, some of the stuff would be great to have on hand, but I’d have to buy a freezer to store all of it and I feel that too much would go to waste. It’s just me and my husband at home and our daughter and her family live a few hours away. He said you can’t pick and choose what you want.
It does look like people who have a large or extended family would be most likely to find this useful.
My grandmother was one of those “free cheese” people in the 1980s, and those commodities were also more than she could use. She passed some of it on to my parents, who also gave me some of it, and even gave it to my other grandmother, who was also qualified but didn’t participate because she felt that other people needed it more. She sure didn’t refuse what she was given, however.
My daughter (with a family of three) uses them occasionally. Every time it’s something a little different, generally a protein, usually chicken, some vegetables or fresh fruit, such as strawberries or bananas, a gallon or two of milk (usually off-brand whole milk), plus snack chips and often some canned vegetables (sauerkraut?!?). It’s too much for them to use up quickly, so we get some of the things that are in duplicate or they don’t want (the sauerkraut!).
I think she enjoys the savings, but more so it’s almost like real-life Chopped, where you have to make do with whatever they give you.
It’s run out of a local church’s parking lot, and the cars are lined up for blocks and blocks, about a mile’s worth. I’ll see them as I make a trip to the regular grocery store, since I’d rather not wait. It’s obviously very popular.