Utah Food Bank Loses Inventory System; Calls for Y2K "Leftover" Donations

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KSL (Salt Lake City) radio today reported that the Salt Lake City based Utah Food Bank had lost it's inventory system due to Y2K related problems. The news further reported that the bank was asking for Y2K leftover food donations becuase of the problem.

A call to the food bank was inconclusive as it was after business hours. However, I don't see the logical connection between the invetory system failing and needing more food. I think there is something fishy in the way this story was researched/reported and I will stay on top of it.

HOWEVER, this raises an alarming issue that I am seeing more and more of, which is that food banks are requesting that people haul in their Y2K stashes and donate them to the bank. While I admire the loving concept behind this, it would simply be FOOLHARDY to relinquish food stores that could be needed/used in any kind of emergency!!!

For what it is worth, instead of donating your entire Y2K food storage, remove some of the older items and donate them to the food bank. Then, replace them with newer items that you purchase. If you make that a regular habit, everybody wins!

The need for self-sustainability is one of the big lessons of Y2K. It is responsible to stock your own food store first, then give to charity next. In my home, I actually store enough food for my neighbors, too, so that no one will go without in a real emergency. In this light, Y2K has seen to it that many "mini" food banks have been set up within geographic reach of more people. Let's not slide backwards into old habits now!

For what it's worth. Jen

-- Jennifer Bunker (Salt Lake City, Utah) (jen@bunkergroup.com), January 04, 2000

Answers

Same story here in our town - Front Page Story is my friend Rachel who is Director of Food Bank here asking for Y2K donations. I've seen this in many papers I perused today!

-- Sheri Nakken (wncy2k@nccn.net), January 04, 2000.

One thing you may consider donating to the food bank are the items you are looking at and saying, "What am I going to do with this now?" Then replace those items with something your family will eat. In doing earthquake preparedness, I have found that one thing people have a tendancy to do is stock up on "reccommended" items, even though they know their family will never eat it. And if kids won't eat it in good times, chances are they won't eat it when they are stressed out by unusual circumstances. So take a good look, and donate the "oops" items with things your family likes. Look in your pantry and see what you have that would be good for emergency rations. Rotate your food - when you buy new peanut butter, put it with the emergency stuff and the old jar in the pantry - and throw in some hard candy.

-- Cyndi Crowder (cyncrowder@aol.com), January 04, 2000.

Here is another I just found...

Safeway Accepting Donations of Y2K Food

DENVER, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Safeway stores in Colorado and surrounding states are launching a food drive to provide customers with the opportunity to donate extra canned goods they may have purchased in anticipation of Y2K.

The food drive is being conducted from January 5-23 at 122 Safeway supermarkets in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, New Mexico and South Dakota.

The collected food will be donated either to local food banks, or to the Food Bank of the Rockies, which serves more than 800 programs that help feed needy children and adults.

"Food banks need support year-round, and we wanted to provide our customers with the opportunity to donate extra food items they may have purchased for the new year," said Safeway spokesperson Jeff Stroh.

SOURCE Safeway

-- Cyndi Crowder (cyncrowder@aol.com), January 04, 2000.


UPDATE on the Salt Lake City food bank story:

NBC affiliate and Salt Lake based KSL news reported 1/4/2000 on the 10:00 p.m. newscast that the Utah foodbank had been "badly" bitten by the Y2K bug. However, in an interview, a food bank employee reported that one old "DOS" computer failed at the bank. He did not indicate its function.

He reported that the real Y2K problem was due to the fact that food donations to the bank were down in the last quarter of 1999 "because of Y2K fears" and asked for persons "who now don't have room for their food storage" to bring it down to the bank.

-- Jennifer Bunker (Salt Lake City, Utah) (jen@bunkergroup.com), January 05, 2000.


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