Helping Hands Food Bank - (613)473-5255

Welcome to the The Helping Hands Food Bank.

Live Frugal: Live Well.

We are located on the main street in Madoc at 70 Durham St. S.

Anyone is welcome to come for 2 visits on a "walk in" basis. Feel free to drop in on us. See our hours...

Afterwards... the 'bank' is open to anyone in the "(613)473" area ... We ask for a client information form to be filled out to understand your financial circumstances. Personal ID is requested preferably photo ID (health card, driver's license, etc.) Failing that please bring utility bills, rent receipts, phone bills... anything that has your name and address...

We ask how many are being fed or need supplies. The 'bank' attempts to meet your personal situation whether you are single or a family, providing what it can from what has been donated and what it has been able to purchase. The general age of children is helpful. You will need to alert us to any medical condition that would limit the range of foods you can eat. Please tell us if there are foods provided that you are not likely to use or cannot use, as others may be able to use them.

The 'bank' allows two visits per month for small amounts or one visit a month for a large amount. If, however, you find yourself in difficulty - we will certainly see what can be done. Please feel free to contact us or drop in.

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Donations:

We accept foodstuffs, perishable or otherwise. Canned and dry goods are especially useful.

Cash donations are gratefully accepted. Even small gifts go a long way because of our position as a food bank. There are a number of items we must purchase to have available for folks.

You can drop cash donations off at the 'bank' on Durham St. S, during our hours, or send them to us at our postal address. Automatic Withdrawals can be set up (see below). Receipts are available from the office of the Support Network, Group Box 307, Madoc Ontario, K0K 2K0.

Foodland in Madoc has put together - at the checkout - bags for $10.00 with things we've said we need. Picking these up and putting them in the Food Bank box by the door would be a great help.

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Automatic Withdrawals to help the Food Bank:

It is possible to have the TD Bank in Madoc set up an automatic withdrawal from your account for the Food Bank. Forms are required and are available at the office of the Support Network [(613) 473-5255].

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Volunteers:

The Food Bank depends on volunteers with various skills and resources (as is the case with this blog). People are often surprised that something they have that they have not considered useful can be used. If you think you have something that would be useful to the 'bank' that you would like to offer... please contact us. ...thanks

- The Helping Hands Food Bank.

The "Heads Up..."

One of our supporters has suggested, that folks may not know just what types of things can be purchased for us when there are sales.

NON-PERISHABLE: Peanut Butter, Pasta and Pasta Sauce, Kraft Dinner, laundry soap, dishwashing detergent (we repackage large quantities into smaller amounts) - and Canned goods - canned milk, fish (tuna, salmon), spaghetti, soups, chunky soups, vegetables, fruit, beans (whole beans, pork and beans), tomatoes (whole or stewed).

PERISHABLE: Whole milk, eggs, bread(s), fresh produce. Arrangements would have to be made - outside of the hours we are open - with the Support Network (613-473-5255) as our food drops (AC Output, Amazing Coffee, Sugar and Spice Bulk Foods) are not set up for perishables .

Receipts are available for income tax purposes. A separate receipt for the donation, with your name and address would need be sent to: The Central Hastings Support Network, 108 Russell St., Group Box 307, Madoc Ontario, K0K 2K0

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TIPS: ...

Price List: Create your own 'price list' in a notepad you can carry with you. List the stuff you use regularly, with columns for the stores in your area. Shop for the best price to stockpile. Set aside the 'savings' to buy more on sales as 'after sale prices' are often higher then before the sales.

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The folks at Wise Bread (wisebread.com) point out that buying regular items on sale and stockpiling can be like having a savings account that pays 33% (by their figuring). This is without having to pay income tax on the earnings and without figuring the savings from not having to run out to get things all the time because you've run out.

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InfoMommy (www.InfoMommy.com) is a site which lists weekly sales that local stores have on diapers, formula, etc. Government service sites, of interest to parents are on their links page.

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Low on supplies? Wondering what you can make with what you have? Search Google with the words "recipe recipes"(no quotes) then list the things you have with a plus sign directly in front of each ingredient. You can put in things like +crockpot, +"slow cooker", or +"dutch oven" (keep the quotes) and it will return recipes for those ingredients cooked that way. Here is - 'recipe recipes hamburger potatoes' - and - 'recipe recipes +crockpot hamburger potatoes'. This works for things that come on sale and what you can do with them.

Water and Pop Bottles

We can use water and pop bottles that you would otherwise put in the recycle. Often we can get liquid laundry detergent, softener and things like dishwashing soap in bulk. These bottles allow us to distribute these things. If you have bottles that would help us... please contact us, (613) 473-0949, or you can drop things off during our hours.

Amazing Coffee, in Madoc, is collecting these from their re-cycling for us. - thanks so much.

Ace's Pizza is allowing us to pilfer their re-cycle bin. - great help folks.

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Live Frugal: Live Well.

Living frugally has been practised for generations.

People remember grandparents or great grandparents telling family stories of how they lived and what they had to do to 'get by'. These lessons, once learned, are not wisely forgotten and many of them are still of use and are often the difference between living against the wall financially and having enough to have 'a little extra' for the times when things come up unexpectedly.

There are many sites on the Internet that specialize in frugal living. These are available through a search engine such as Google or Clusty.

Many of these sites can suggest ways to save money, get more use from what you purchase, make products last, understand and make use of warranties. They have such things as recipes, food plans and menus.

Some of these sites have forums where people share their experience in saving and making things stretch as well as things they have discovered on the Net or in other places.

One site worth looking at is Once a Month Cooking. Be sure to see their Step-by-step page.

A mother, busy with juggling work and family, began cooking for a week ahead and it went from there. Not only did it reduce daily dinner prep to a few minutes... it allowed her to buy groceries on sale and save substantially on her food bill. It has recipes.

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There are a number of stores and services in the Center Hastings area that are especially useful for frugal living including, The AC Output, The Book Worm, The Bulk Food Store, The Super Dollar Club, The Thrift Store.

Also, don't forget public services like the Madoc Public Library, (613) 473-4456, which has an inter-library loan service that can bring in a wide variety of titles beyond their own holdings.

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Helping Hands Food Bank - (613)473-5255

HOURS:

Food Boxes!

Call us if... You or someone you know

Frugal Websites:

Links:

The "Heads Up..."

TIPS: ...

Water and Pop Bottles

Food Drops

Bring your own bags...

Event Donations

Live Frugal: Live Well.