Hi, Mitzi, Good question/point.
When I delivered loaves to Rainier Valley Food Bank, they let me take a few tote bins home and use to transport bread. I could leave the filled bins with them and take fresh ones home. Now I’m delivering to West Seattle Food Bank, and they don’t work that way. Even so, I could use totes, put them out for people to fill with their bread, take to the Food Bank and empty there (into their grocery carts). Maybe M Miller, our Food Bank Coordinator, can discuss this with the food banks and see what we can work out. And we hub coordinators should chat about this.
I reuse paper bags in good shape on Flour Truck days to fill orders. When loaves are delivered, I redistribute them so all bags have at least 5 loaves. Heavier than that and I need to double-bag. The emptied bags then get used for filling orders. I also like the Fairhaven boxes for large orders – and would be happy to use them to carry loaves to the food bank.
Paula vanHaagen, West Seattle-Central hub coordinator