grocery shopping but not for us.

School is out this week - there are a lot of children who attend our local elementary school whose main meal of the day is lunch.  With school being out an entire week that can really have an affect on grocery budgets, especially if extra daycare costs or lost work days come into play.
I spoke with the Community in Schools liaison for our elementary school and she referred me to the local food pantry.  There are a large number of students at the school who qualify for services that the food pantry provides.  Between school being out and it being thanksgiving week, they are expecting an influx of need at the food pantry.

I offered to purchase some fresh fruits and vegetables.  I was shocked at how much I could get with so little.
I filled a grocery cart with 45 apples, 45 oranges, 30 lbs. of potatoes, 12 lbs of bananas, 16 lbs of mini peeled carrots, 9 cucumbers, 17 bags of lettuce/spinach.  My main thought was grab and go items for any kids left at home while parent worked, and of course healthy and fresh foods. The food pantry normally wants non perishables, but this week is an exception and they were so thrilled with the donation.

It is eating at me that I purchased conventional produce and not organic, but I knew I could help many more people and that the fresh fruit and veggies were better than alternative foods.

total spent - $115

Ironically, I moved some term CD's around whose time was up and sure enough, the interest made was right around $115.  This means this trip has no impact on our grocery budget!

I took a picture of the groceries in the back of the car using my cell phone, but it turns out it was really a video and I can't figure out how to just add a still from it on here...