Would This Bother You? Donated Eggs and Expectations

[Tuffoldhen]

I also find this very disturbing that this gentleman would have the "nerve" to ask of you delivering free fresh eggs.

I sometimes give my extras away to acouple people that I know can use them. I always receive in some way a token back from them clean egg cartons, freshly baked Angelfood cakes from "Sandys" fresh eggs as they tell me or embroidery work that an elderly lady as done as play it forward. I find that more refreshing than money and something that is not expected when I give but a pleasant surprise when it happens.

 

[speckledhen]

That's very nice, Sandy. I wish my family was closer. I wouldnt mind giving them free eggs; a few of them could probably use them and would appreciate them.

 

[Wifezilla]

My experiences with donations...

I have a friend who manages a bakery thrift store. She used to make donations of good but expired bread, but then she would get tons of calls constantly asking for more. There was no way should would know from one day to the next what she might have. They would get mad when she said she didn't have bread available for donation or only had a couple of extra loaves. A few places even started getting picky about the KIND of bread they wanted. It was infuriating. So then she just stopped donating all together.

Instead, when she gets a surplus, she calls me and I take the bread to a church food pantry (I know the lady who runs it). I explained to her the situation, and that I could make no promises as to when, what and how much I could bring. They were appreciative and did not care about the type of bread, just very grateful for what I could donate. They are always happy to see me and help me unload.

Contrast that to a time I went to donate a load of surplus bread to a mission. It was snowing, I tried to find someone to tell me where to leave the bread, nobody would even acknowledge I was there. I finally just started grabbing boxes and stacked a bunch of stuff inside the door. As I was finishing someone finally did come by, act annoyed that I was interrupting his routine, and didn't even say thank you for the 200lbs of bread I just unloaded myself. Needless to say, I never donate there anymore.

I also used to donate to a woman's shelter. I called them once and told them my friend had 10 cases of poptarts, 20 loafs of whole wheat bread and a couple cases of muffins and asked if they could use them. Once they understood these items were in good condition and coming from a reputable bakery, we made arrangements for me to drop it off at a location away from the shelter. Went great, the lady picking it up was appreciative and thankful, and I felt fantastic knowing I was helping out.

Fast forward to last year. I had a similar lot of items available along with a bunch of hats, scarves, toys, etc. I tried to contact the shelter and couldn't reach them by phone. I found their website and tried to contact them through there. Then I found a page that said they could no longer accept in kind donations. Call me stupid, but I had no idea what "in kind" meant. A friend explained that it meant they only wanted cash. Well gee, I want cash too. I don't always have it but still want to help those who need a hand. All that stuff (the hats and other knit stuff we NEW) ended up at the food pantry. I now exclusively donate to the one place that seems to understand gratitude.

 

[speckledhen]

Well, seems I'm certainly not alone in this. Like you, I don't want recognition for it; I just want my help to be appreciated, not expected.

 

[jvls1942]

wifezillla, if you went through all that and could not contact the shelter, how did a person who needed help ever contact them?
that is strange.

 

[SewingDiva]

I don't blame you for feeling put out and I suspect he was one of those people who is so far removed from where food comes from that he was clueless as to much work you really out into it.

I wonder if you could also contact the Boy or Girl Scouts; those orgnaization are often tuned into areas of their communities that have a real need. And the Scouts might even be willing to pick them up; those kids are pretty self-motivated because it's part of Scout training.

If you could find a kid who is planning on going for Eagle Scout or Gold Award (the GS equivilant) it would be a great service project for them. You supply the eggs, they set up, plan and do the distribution. And then get the whole troop to supply the labor to clean and pack eggs.

Phyllis

 

[Wifezilla]

if you went through all that and could not contact the shelter, how did a person who needed help ever contact them?
that is strange.

They did have the crisis line, but I didn't consider a donation a crisis. Guess I was wrong!

 

[mom'sfolly]

I'm sorry you were treated badly. The part of this that actually bothers me the most is that the guy recieving the donations is buying eggs rather than letting you donate them all. But he also probably does not understand that the egg situation is seasonal, and that you live so far from the shelter. It is a very good chance that he is a volunteer, and all the miles on his car and his time are donated. He may feel passionately about what he is doing, and have blinders about everyone being as committed as he his.

I live in a fairly large, and fairly prosperous community. One of my closest friends is one of two paid employees at the local food pantry, everything is done by volunteers. This facility serves more than 1200 people a month and includes a free clinic, thrift store and food pantry. It provides shelter in emergencies (hurricanes here in Texas), emergency food, help for the elderly, community gardens, administers Coats for Kids, has a free "bookstore" for children, provides clothing for the women's shelter and many other services. Even the volunteers are overworked, and any money they spend on pick-ups is money they cannot spend on service.

I think the schools might be a good place for you to send your excess eggs. Our school has a community outreach/liason sort of person. At our school they were responsible for organizing help for the families in need at our school. I know this included donated Christmas gifts, help with bills, a money management course for at least one family, and food and clothing aid. This person at a local school or a counselor should be able to help you.

 

[Wifezilla]

think the schools might be a good place for you to send your excess eggs

I can't even begin to imagine the size of the mountain of red tape that would be involved with donating to a school.​

 

[speckledhen]

This man is the "originator" of the shelter; he calls it his "ministry". It's linked to the food pantry or I'd try that.