FOOD
All About the Food
FOOD is what we’re all about – lots of it and in as much variety as we can get. We have a very short version of our mission as it relates to food:
FOOD – GET IT – GIVE IT
That describes what almost all our activities are about – determining where to get food and how to pay for it and then running the pantry to give it out.
Our two main sources of food are the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank and local donations.
We spend around $70,000 per year on food plus we have thousands of pounds donated!
There is a saying in the food bank “business” – $ (dollars) not CANS. This means that since we buy at around 11 cents per pound, a dollar given to us means we can get far more items with money than those paying retail for the product.
But, there are lots of benefits to donated food items also. Donated items give us FAR greater variety of food items. We get many things that we couldn’t afford to buy ourselves – and that our clients REALLY enjoy. And, having food drives and people donating food is much more “personal” and visible than giving dollars.
SO WE DO NEED BOTH!
Food Donations
We get donations of food items from individuals, local churches, companies, organizations, schools, and the University of Mount Union.
These donations are very important because they give us a much greater variety of items than we can typically get from the Akron-Canton Food Bank. The donated items are also typically items that we can’t afford to purchase.
Food donations are welcome, especially our Super Six most needed food items:
- boxed cereal
- peanut butter
- canned tuna/or chicken
- canned vegetables
- canned beef stew
- canned soup
Another special category of need is paper supplies and toiletries. These items cannot be purchased with SNAP benefits (Food Stamps) and thus are much appreciated by our clients.
HOW TO MAKE FOOD DONATIONS
You can bring food to the pantry any time during our open hours. Come to the door at the back of the pantry near where the truck parks. Ring the bell and we can help you get the food from your vehicle. Donated food is weighed so we have a record of how much food we have and the donor is given a receipt with the weight on it.
FOOD DRIVES
The pantry benefits from a wide variety of food drives during the year. These larger scale events often become fun social events at the pantry. If you are having a food drive we’d appreciate being told in advance about it so we can be aware and help you in any way we can. And remember the Super Six needed food items mentioned above.
Akron Canton Regional Food Bank
The Alliance Community Pantry receives almost all of the food it purchases from the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank.
The Alliance Community Pantry is very fortunate to be served by this very successful regional food bank that serves 8 counties in NE Ohio. In 2022, the Food Bank provided over 28.5 million pounds of food to 450 agencies.
Agencies include food pantries like ours plus other programs that offer meals or other food assistance.
HOW WE WORK WITH THE FOOD BANK
Each day a menu of items available from the Food Bank is displayed on their web site. The pantry food ordering person watches for good deals and items that we need. An order is place online for pickup a couple of days later. The transportation committee provides a driver and a rider/helper to take our truck to the food bank at our scheduled time. While at the Food Bank picking up our order, they also have the opportunity to pick up additional items from an area called “Free Market”. These are items the Food Bank gets at the last minute and are not on the menu. Pickups are made typically twice a week.
OPEN HOURS:
-Monday 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
-Tuesday 9:00 am – 12:00
-Wednesday 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Phone: 330-680-8130
Partner Agency of
Akron Canton Regional Food Bank