Leftover Party Food: A Charitable Solution

Two recent events inspired me to write this post:
1) M's big party (of which we thankfully had minimal leftovers)
2) The troubling sight of two homeless men duking it out at the stoplight of a major freeway offramp. I suspect one fellow had moved into the other guy's territory and the original "owner" was not pleased. The fight reached a crescendo when one guy smacked the other in the face with his cardboard sign. After running to the opposite curb for safety, the smackee proceeded to pelt his nemesis with random bits of food from a Taco Bell bag. The saddest part of said incident was when the food thrower instantly appeared to regret his strategy and scrambled back into the road to grab the bits of burrito and nachos he'd tossed. Obviously when you're homeless, food is a precious resource and not to be squandered in a moment of ill-temper.

So you've just had a big bash...maybe a birthday soiree or a dinner party. Whatever it was...it likely involved large quantities of food. And now you're stuck with a buttload of leftovers. In fact, you have way more than you can actually fit in your fridge and/or manage to eat before it spoils. What to do?

Option A: Foist it on reluctant party goers and let it become their problem
Option B: Fido! Time for dinner (and breakfast, and lunch, and dinner, ad nauseum...literally)
Option C: Cram it into any open space you can find in your fridge and freezer and then promptly forget about half of it only to remember weeks later when something starts to smell funny
Option D: Sneak out to your trash can in the dark of night, look both ways, and then guiltily toss as much as you can inside

Thankfully, there is one more option. It'll allow you to take a little walk on the wild side, get rid of your food (sans guilt), and do something nice in the process.

I present to you Option E: Package up the leftovers, hop in the car, drive down to your local homeless shelter, and hand over food. Voila!

It may sound odd but most homeless shelters are usually more than happy to accept your leftovers...as long as they are fresh and in good condition (aka not likely to cause shelter residents to succumb to food poisoning). In fact, many of the more philanthropic catering companies and restaurants are in the habit of donating leftover food.

Sometimes, however, there are rules to what they can and can't accept. Some shelters, for example, will only take professionally prepared food (food prepped by restaurants, caterers, hospitals, event planners, corporate cafeterias, etc). Not sure what to donate (or where)? Do a quick search for homeless shelter + your local city name. And then scan the shelter web site for a "donations" section where you'll typically find a list of food items they will (and won't) accept.

PS If you're in the San Jose area, the Julian Street Inn (the only shelter in the Santa Clara Valley dedicated to mentally ill homeless men and women) typically accepts leftover donations. We've dropped off all sorts of items there--cake slices, hors d'oeuvres, fruit baskets, etc--without any issues.