Donate Food | Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen and Social Center

WE ARE BUILT ON THE GENEROSITY OF COMMUNITY

Our Daily Bread serves hundreds of meals a day, five days a week with the support of in-kind food donations from compassionate individuals and the generous local food industry, as well as canned food drives organized by local volunteer groups.

Goods are also important to our operations- whether you donate forks to serve soup kitchen to-go meals, Ziploc bags, or another ongoing needed item, every donation is important!

Please use the sign-up sheet link to register to donate food and goods, and see drop-off directions below. Review our food donation safety guidelines here.

NEEDED ITEM DETAILS

Sandwiches

We provide sandwiches in snack bags that get distributed along with hot meals so that our guests can take something to eat later in the day. Making sandwiches is wonderful for faith groups, families, businesses, and other groups interested volunteering as a team off-site. This is a great one-off or recurring opportunity!

We are in need of 600 sandwiches each day, 400 Meat and 200 PB&J. Each sign up slot is for 100 sandwiches. If you are donating more, please sign up for additional slots.

For more details, please follow the “sign up to donate” button below, and then select the donation you’re interested in giving.

You will receive an email after signing up- this is confirmation of your commitment to donate. When delivering food items, please come to our donation door on Goose Alley behind our building (directions below), 7AM-10AM on the day you sign up for.

Please note that we are unable to verify community service hours for off-site activities.

Home baked treats & salty snacks

Home baked treats and salty snacks are included in our Snack Bags that are given to guests along with their meal so they have something to eat later in the day.

Each sign-up slot is for 50 treats or snacks. If you are donating more, please sign up for additional slots.

Examples:

- Muffins
- Little Debbie
- Cookies
- Brownies
- Pretzels
- Chips
- Peanut butter/cheese crackers
- Nuts
- Trail mix
- Slim Jims

For more details, please follow the “sign up to donate” button below, and then select the donation you’re interested in giving.

Please note that we are unable to verify community service hours for off-site activities.

Prepared dishes

We get pretty busy around here, and donations of prepared food really speed things up in our kitchen! If you enjoy cooking at home, this is a great way to help out.

We are in need of 4 full-size pans of protein, 2 starches, and 2 veggies each day. Each sign-up slot is for 1 tray. If you are donating more, please sign up for additional slots.

For specific details/instructions, please follow the “sign up to donate” button below, and then select the donation you’re interested in giving.

Please note that we are unable to verify community service hours for off-site activities.

Fresh fruit and juice

Each meal we provide includes fruit- when we have fresh fruit, we distribute that first. When we run out, we can rely on non-perishable fruit such as fruit cups.

Each sign-up slot is for 50 pieces of fruit. If you are donating more, please sign up for additional slots.

Fruit requested (no apples please, many of our guests struggle with eating these):

- oranges/cuties
- bananas
- fruit cups
- juice boxes
- individual applesauce cups or squeezes

Please follow the “sign up to donate” button below, and then select the donation you’re interested in giving.

Please note that we are unable to verify community service hours for off-site activities.

Hold a canned food drive

A canned food drive is a straightforward activity for anyone looking for a way to give back and make a direct impact. Rally your community to join you! The list of non-perishable food and goods most needed are on a customizable flyer here.

Here are the steps to hosting a canned food drive for Our Daily Bread:

1) Sign up for a drop-off date using the sign-up button below.

2) Participants spread the word by:
• Posting flyers in their community- download our flyer here: Canned Food Drive Flyer, or create your own!
• Posting on social media- post a photo with information to your IG stories, make a TikTok, tweet about the drive, and more.
• Emailing or texting- send messages to friends, coworkers, family, church groups, and others.
• Creating a Facebook event- invite your friends, and encourage them to invite theirs!

3) Contact Kathy Schickel (kathy@ourdailybread.us) with any questions. The list of non-perishable food and goods most needed are on a customizable flyer here.

4) Deliver the items to Our Daily Bread on the date you signed up to drop off!

BONUS: Remember to snap photos of your participants collecting food items, and share them with us so we can share your volunteer service on our social media! Send any info and photos via email to Kat Heilman, Director of Communications, at kat@ourdailybread.us.

Please follow the “sign up to donate” button below, and then select the donation you’re interested in giving.

Please note that we are unable to verify community service hours for off-site activities.

Donate goods

Donating goods is so helpful! We really fly through the items listed below.

Ongoing needs:

- Plastic grocery bags
- Toilet paper
- Ziploc bags (sandwich and quart)
- To-Go coffee cups (10 oz or 12 oz) with lids
- Plastic forks
- 55 gallon heavy duty trash bags

Please follow the “sign up to donate” button below, and then select the donation you’re interested in giving.

Please note that we are unable to verify community service hours for off-site activities.

Birthday bags

Birthdays are important around here- we love making a guest’s special day even more special!

We are in need of 20 men’s/masculine and 10 women’s/feminine birthday bags per month. Each sign-up slot is for 2 birthday bags. You are welcome to sign up for more than one slot!

If you are unable to drop off on the sign-up date, that’s ok! Drop off any day that week, Monday-Friday, 7AM-Noon.

When assembling a bag, you might include (but are not limited to):

- A nice birthday card or hand-written note
- Socks
- Perfume or cologne
- Personal fans with batteries or charger
- Keychain-sized flashlights with batteries or charger
- Travel tissue
- Hair comb or brush
- Shaving cream/razors
- Lotion
- Lip balm
- Mouthwash
- Deodorant
- Shampoo/conditioner
- Dry shampoo
- Hand sanitizer
- Wet wipes
- Warm gloves and hats in the winter
- Hats to keep sun off in the summer
- Sunscreen
- Sunglasses
- Accessories
- Hair ties, clips
- Makeup
- Travel manicure set, nail polish
- Notebook and pen
- Water bottle
- Travel first aid kit
- Tote bags, smaller bags to help stay organized on the go

Going to the dollar store to find little gifts and gift bags can be super fun. It can also be helpful to think of what you tend to take in a bag or keep in your car if you are going to be out and about all day.

If you’re unsure about including something, need some guidance, or have any other questions, please reach out to Kat Heilman at kat@ourdailybread.us.

Please, no food in bags! It will end up tasting like the other items in the bag.

Please note that we are unable to verify community service hours for off-site activities.

Donation Drop Off

Donation Hours:
Monday-Friday 7:00AM – Noon

No parking necessary! We are located at 1730 Race Street across from Findlay Market in Cincinnati, Ohio’s Over the Rhine neighborhood.

When delivering food items, please come to our donation door in the back alley behind our building (map below). If you are heading south on Race, go past our building to the first drive on the left (parking lot).

Make the next left onto the alley, and pull up to the green door on our yellow building.

Ring the doorbell with the big green painted arrow next to it. Someone will help you unload, and you can be on your way!

If you’d like to coordinate your donation with our current needs, contact Kathy Schickel, Director of Operations: Call (513) 621-6364 x 15 or email kathy@ourdailybread.us

map to get to our donation door, and a photo of our donation door.

WE ARE BUILT ON THE GENEROSITY OF COMMUNITY

NEEDED ITEM DETAILS

Sandwiches

Home baked treats & salty snacks

Prepared dishes

Fresh fruit and juice

Hold a canned food drive

Donate goods

Birthday bags

Donation Drop Off

Donation Hours: Monday-Friday 7:00AM – Noon

Donation Hours:
Monday-Friday 7:00AM – Noon