We could not operate our services without the help of our generous community. All food distributed via our Foodbank is donated and we constantly rely upon donations of food stock. Donating items of food is a simple process. We have permanent trollies in all the supermarkets in Alloa, food donations can be dropped off at The Gate Centre, Monday to Friday between 10am – 3pm and we are always happy to provide a tour and talk to local groups visiting with donations.

What to donate – some general tips

ALL donations are very gratefully received, but here are ideas for particularly helpful items:

Multipacks of individually wrapped items.

Items that don’t need to be cooked. Rising energy prices mean a lot of people are requesting items that don’t require an oven, for example, things that can be prepared with just a kettle.

Items that already include herbs and spices. People accessing foodbanks might have limited seasonings to hand to make a flavoursome meal, so foods that come with those things already are a great idea, for instance, tinned tomatoes that include garlic or herbs.

Items that can turn pasta/rice into a full meal. Pasta and rice tend to be donated frequently, so it’s helpful to donate complementary items (for example, pasta sauce, tinned vegetables) that can turn them into a meal.

What not to donate

While all kinds of donations are gratefully received, there are a few things you should avoid giving:

Items past expiry date. All food distributed must be within the expiry (or ‘use by’) date on the label. Anything past that date will have to be disposed of. Past ‘best before’ is fine so long as it’s still within the expiry date. (Confused by ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ dates? See this guide on expiration dates for clarity.)

Items no longer in original packaging or without the shop’s own labelling. If you’ve decanted the food into another container or removed the labels, it can’t be accepted.

Anything you wouldn’t eat yourself.  A good measure for deciding whether something is suitable: do not donate anything that you or a loved one wouldn’t want to eat.