Make things super simple during this interim time where we don't have a new building. There are bins we can get from any department store. Two bins is the target for what we are storing things in to ease transportability. The first bin is for pre-packaged meals. These are basically our guaranteed meals, but we'll probably want to have one of each category of food item within it.
| Category Name | Category Examples |
|---|---|
| Grains | Pasta, rice, mac 'n cheese, etc |
| Fruit | Canned peaches, fruit cups, apple sauce packs |
| Vegetables | Canned beans, peas, carrots, etc |
| Proteins | Peanut butter, canned chicken, hearty soups |
| Cooking Staples | Mayo, Spices, cream soup, shelf stable milk |
The second bin will be to store all of the items that are considered 'extra' from the Pantry. These will also be pre-bagged up and each household will get a snack bag and their choice of either a "House Toiletry" or "Personal Care Toiletry" bag. Feminine hygiene products are provided on an as-needed basis. ( We may also want to have an extra bag of baby stuff as supplies last.)
| Category Name | Category Examples |
|---|---|
| Treats | Cookies mixes/packs, Fruit snacks, bags of chips, etc |
| House Toiletries | Dish soap, laundry soap, toilet paper |
| Personal Toiletries | Toothbrush/toothpaste, body soap, deodorant, razor |
There may be some other items that we want to include, but this is a good start to the list and can fit in two bins. There may not be as much when we distribute, but this is a somewhat modular system where if we see there is a LARGE influx of need, we can realign just how much we prepare for each distribution event. In order to manage the number of meals we hand out, two meal bags per family. They can then select one hygiene bag and one snack bag per household.
This is a super simple method that can easily be taught to volunteers and distributers. If the bins can be pre-pared before an event, then any volunteer can pick up the bins, take them to the event, distribute the food, and know how much to give to each person for any given sitiuation. This frees up a lot of our mental load so we can focus on the main thing. Which is getting a new building so we can actually have the Pantry that we want
Keep in mind, having the same amount of food and extras to every household despite the household size may not be something we want to continue to do. This will get updated as needed to capture any changes we want to make to counts.
Looking at each week on an individual basis, this is somewhat of the plan based on current chats.
| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Possible Order Day by Janet* | Possible packing day | Possible packing day | Possible packing day | Distribution with Food not Bombs | Day off! | Taking inventory |
*This should be for any orders for two Fridays from that Monday. I doubt we will ever be low enough on ALL of our food to make a fast order expressly needed.
This timeline is VERY malleable. As things progress and we continue to try things out we may identify changes to doing things.