Missing Food Bank Trolley and Live Below The Line 2015

Another busy week with the days flying by in a flurry of sleet, sunshine, showers and a touch of frost thrown in.  Luckily, I knew I had to protect my carrot and salad leaves pots from frost but I was taken by surprise and my potato tops have suffered a bit of frosting, turning parts of the leaves brown.  I do hope I haven't ruined the crop already :(  Only time will tell....

I have been following some of the bloggers who are doing the Live Below The Line £5 challenge.  I am so full of admiration for them.  I'm not sure I could do it out of necessity, let alone choice, so I commend you all. 

 

photo from Google

OH and I had to pop into Sainsbury's for something this afternoon so I took along some pots of fruit for the Food Bank trolley only to find it was no longer there.  It was certainly there last Saturday when I shopped because I donated several items as usual.  On enquiry at Customer Services I was handed a leaflet which confirms that there will no longer be a collection trolley but doesn't explain why.  The pet food collections have also been stopped.  Now these have been going on in every Sainsbury's I have visited in the last 10 years at least, so what is going on?  The need for donated pet food is still there for the pet rescue centres in the area and Food Banks are a major feature of everyday life at the moment.  The half hearted explanation is that Sainsbury's already have charity events like Comic Relief and that the staff raise money for charity too.  Last year I kept a note of how much food I donated to the trolley collection as I had a target in mind for the year. During 2014 I donated over £100 worth of food all of which was purchased in store.  I now have the dilemma of choosing to:
a) forget donating altogether
b) try to find the Food Bank itself and drop off items every week (feeling embarrassed if it's only a couple of things) or
c) stockpile items hoping that OH doesn't notice how much I am donating and drop them off at the centre whilst hoping that I don't come across someone I know who will spill the beans, so to speak :/

Has anyone else noticed that a donation trolley has been removed? Is it just in the Kidderminster store?  I wonder why........