Canned Food Deals to help Second Harvest

By now you've probably heard the terrible news that on Monday, the warehouse for Second Harvest Food Bank was flooded. They lost all their freezers and fridges, and they expect most of their food is contaminated. Hopefully insurance will help pay for most of the damage, but there are immediate needs in our area that don't stop because they're temporarily closed.

Think of it like this. They are a like grocery store that supplies food to many other agencies that in turn serve 158,000 people a month. Without the grocery store, those agencies have to rely on what they have on hand until the grocery store reopens (which hopefully will be Monday, March 7).

I'm pleased to see some groups are already stepping up the plate to help. Bearden High School donated enough money to provide 42,000 meals for the Food for Kids program and Frontier Airlines gave $2000. See video above.

As a coupon blogger, I don't have that much to give, but I know how every little bit helps. If you and your neighbor and your friend and your mother all donate something, we could have a huge impact. Donating online is a great way to go because with their ability to buy in bulk they can turn every dollar into 3 meals. But if you prefer to give actual food, here are some ideas to save you money:

The most requested items are peanut butter, diapers, and canned food with protein. Cereal is another good item to consider.

1. Kroger:

• Honey Nut Cheerios ($2.18, use $1/2 MC and $.55 esaver from Kroger, Cellfire, or Shortcuts=$1.13 each)
• Progresso soup ($1.25 each, use $1/4 MC and 2 $.50/2 esavers=$.75 each)
• 2 Butterfingers ($.50 each, use $1/2 printable=both FREE) Think of it as a nice treat for the volunteers!

2. Ingles

• Starkist tuna pouches 5oz ($.50, use $.50 coupon in All You=FREE)
• Hunts tomato products ($1, use $.45 printable, doubled =$.10 sauce or $.45/3 doubled =$.70 each) I think to double coupons, you must spend $10 to double three.
• Peter Pan 16oz peanut butter ($1.67)
• Laura Lynn canned fruit ($1)
• Healthy Choice soups ($1)

3. Earthfare:

• Muir Glen tomatoes 28oz: $2, use $.75 printable=$1.25 each (a good price since this is the large can).
• If you have 28oz of Hunts tomato sauce to donate from previous Kroger sales (I got mine free), you could exchange them for a free Earthfare jar of sauce ($2.99 value) through Take the Boot challenge. The cans will be donated to Second Harvest.

4. Walgreen's:

• Huggies diapers or pull-ups ($8.99, use $2MC, get $2RR=$4.99 each)

5. United Grocery Outlet (Thanks to Hannah from Frugally Farming Family for this list; they do not accept coupons)

• Generic diapers: $2.29 for various sizes and quantities per package.
• Name brand diapers starting at $5.59 for various sizes and quantities.
• The peanut butter is Fischer brand for $1.49 for 16 oz.
• Canned goods were anywhere from 4/$1 to 3/$1 or 2/$1. There are also some $.69 each.
• The cheapest cereal was 1.99 each; some name brands were more expensive.

6. Your own pantry

Chances are you've gotten even better deals and stockpiled several items they could use. Consider giving from here, but make sure nothing is beyond the expiration.

Since Second Harvest can't accept physical donations now, you could drop them off at the office where the husband of another coupon blogger, Knoxville on a Dime, works:

Rocky Top Realty

4313 Ball Camp Pike

Donation hours are 9-6 weekdays, by appt on weekends.

Contact David Gibson (865)566-1216 or Dolly Smith (865)755-2201

Thank you for your generosity!