Wakefield Interfaith Food Pantry

The Wakefield Interfaith Food Pantry must, by law, discard any food items that are beyond the expiration date, look old, have previously been opened, or otherwise just don't look clean or safe. The First Baptist Church kindly allows us to use their dumpster and we do not want to cause an increase in their trash disposal costs. Please make sure that the food that you donate is not expired or otherwise unsuitable for distribution.

Please check items before you donate! THANK YOU!


	~ Actual Samples of Unusable Food Donations ~
			At first glance, this bottle of Karo Syrup was suspiciously cloudy and the label rather faded. This alone would send it to the dumpster, However, a closer look at the expiration date showed that this syrup was indeed WAY past its prime...In case you can't read the label, it says BUY BEFORE OCT 27 79.
	Not all canned goods are imprinted with expiration dates; however, most small cans of soup do have them. Besides being a little rusty and faded, this can is clearly dated "JUN 95."
			Perhaps a bit difficult to see in this photo - but, along with some discoloration, the top and bottom of this can are both bulging out a bit, a sure sign of trouble!
	This picture may be blurry, but the damage is obvious and caused this can to be thrown right into the trash.
			We just cannot use previously opened packages of food. We agree that it is a shame to waste food, but we just can't assume that opened packages are safe to use.

The Wakefield Interfaith Food Pantry is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization.