Every month, Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program publishes its “Top 5”: a list of the current five most-requested items in the food pantry. Although the items vary over the course of the year, there are some familiar mainstays: canned soup or stew, peanut butter, dried pasta. Our community members and donors have said across the board that they enjoy this guidance in selecting items to donate, instead of just guessing at what items will make the biggest impact and do the most good. However, there are some items that don’t make the list that are used every day in our food bank distribution, crucial to the behind-the-scenes operations.

If you’re looking to declutter, MCHPP is always in the market for grocery bags; we use these daily to distribute groceries. Whether it’s a plastic bag full of other plastic bags, a stack of paper grocery sacks carefully folded and stashed, or a bottomless cupboard of reusable bags that never seem to make it back out to the car — as long as it’s clean, we’ll take it! We’ll even recycle gift bags from the holidays, provided they’re big enough to hold a few groceries.

Egg cartons are another necessary receptacle that may not immediately spring to mind when it comes to food pantry donations. We often receive eggs from farms and grocery stores in large, bulk egg crates, so regular egg cartons are required to divide them out into family-sized portions. Plastic, cardboard or Styrofoam are all appreciated!

Similarly, the food pantry uses Ziplocks (and other plastic storage bags) to repack produce into individual portions for distribution, and we go through a lot of them! Gallon, quart and sandwich sizes (new/unused) are all needed for different types of groceries.

Our community kitchen is well-equipped, but we have a need for reusable forks to support community and volunteer groups in prep and processing.

When the curtain is peeled back, the invisible work of MCHPP operations becomes a more practical, grounded affair, with concrete needs that are just as essential to the work as grocery donations. While we regularly put out a call for such items on our social media platforms, the need for distribution items is ongoing and only increases as our programs grow. So this month, as you peruse our Top 5 list and contemplate donating some cans of tuna or Chef Boyardee, please ask yourself if you have a few extra reusable grocery bags or some spare egg cartons you never got around to tossing away.

In regards to grocery donations: We ask that you keep in mind that many of our neighbors limit intake of salt and sugar to manage chronic health conditions. When possible, please select low- or no-sodium and reduced or sugar-free products. Donations can be made at our Warehouse & Administrative Facility located at 179 Neptune Dr. on Brunswick Landing Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Giving Voice is a weekly rotating column written by Brunswick-area nonprofits. Michelle Barber is lead clinician at Oasis Free Clinics, a nonprofit, no-cost primary care medical practice and dental clinic, providing patient-centered care to uninsured adults living in Freeport, Durham, Harpswell, Brunswick and Sagadahoc County. For more information, visit OasisFreeClinics.org or call (207) 721-9277.

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