On this page:
- Welcome
- Opening hours
- How to Apply
- Refugee?
- Shopping at the Food Bank
- If you are not able to come
- About the food
- Clothing Bank
- For Kids
- Our Rules
Welcome
We welcome you as a customer of the Voedselbank Houten (foodbank). It is good you have taken this step. We will gladly help you!
We are here for all residents of the municipality of Houten who do not have enough to buy food. We support these households with food packages for as long as needed.
In the Netherlands, we have laws and regulations against poverty. We can help solve your financial problems. Or advise on how you can supplement your income. We don’t judge the reasons why you are short of money. It takes time to solve your financial problems. We will support you as long as needed. On average that is half a year, sometimes shorter, sometimes longer.
Opening hours
You can pick up a foodpackage once a week at the foodbank. The address is De Poort 81 in Houten.
We are open on Tuesday afternoon and Friday afternoon from 12:00 till 3:00 p.m.
- We expect you to come yourself.
- Are you ill? Do not come but call us.
- Take an ID-card with you
Apply
You cannot just come to the food bank for a package. You need to apply first.
We will help you as soon as possible. In most cases, you will have a food package the same week.
How to apply?
You can apply yourself or via a social worker or carer. You can apply via our website, e-mail or telephone.
Your application has been processed by the volunteers from the intake team. As a new customer, you will receive a food package once a week, for 4 weeks.
To renew, the volunteers from the intake team will schedule an interview with you.
Refugee?
If you have came to live in Houten as a ‘statushouder’, you have been registered with us by someone from Vluchtelingenwerk (Refugee Council). An intake interview is not necessary at that moment.
After a while, we will invite you for an interview with our volunteers.
If you like, you may bring someone from Refugee Council with you when you visit the food bank.
Interview
You will be invited for an interview with one (or two) of our volunteers. We will ask you to e-mail or show us financial papers. We conduct the interviews by telephone or at the ‘Huis van Houten’ on ‘Onderdoor 160’ (above the library).
During the interview, we check whether you are (still) entitled to food aid. We use the standards that apply to all food banks. You can find these on our website. But above all we will look at your personal situation.
If necessary, we will point you towards more help. Besides the food bank, there are other organisations in Houten that can help you.
We will keep in touch with you after the food packages have started. We will invite you for an interview every three months.
Contact the Intake Team?
Do you wish to have personal contact with volunteers of the Intake Team? You can e-mail (aanvraag@voedselbankhouten.nl) or phone:
Tuesday and Thursday morning from 9 – 12 am on 06-1294 0755.
You can also leave a message on our voicemail. We will call you back.
The shopping
At the Voedselbank Houten you can choose your package from our “store”.
What is on the shelves differs every week. We don’t have a complete range of products like in a real supermarket. But we always have fresh vegetables, fruit, bread, meat and dairy products. We often have products like sanitary towels, shampoo and laundry detergent. There are at least 25 or more healthy products in a package.
You may take food for about 3 days. So it is a supplement.
Please bring your own shopping bag(s). For frozen products you will receive a special cooler bag on your first visit. Please, take it with you every week.
If you do not speak Dutch, it is best to take someone with you. Certainly the first time that is handy. Maybe your counselor knows a solution?
If you are not able to come
Nofity us!
We count on you to come every week. It is possible that you might want to skip a week. Please let us know.
If you cannot make it on the agreed day and time, we can reschedule the appointment. Contact us.
It is okay if someone else picks up your food package. But we must know this in advance. You can let us know who is coming by phone or e-mail. Or you fill out the form at the back of this booklet and give this to this person. The form is also available on our website and at the Food Bank.
Please note that the person who picks up your package must be able to identify himself/herself and must be sure to bring the form.
If you cannot find anyone, please contact us.
Only in exceptional cases do we deliver the food package to your home.
About the Food
Where does it come from?
The food in the packages is donated to us; by companies, supermarkets, churches and private persons (food collections). Frequently, it is food that would otherwise be thrown away. So as a Food Bank customer, you also prevent food waste.
If too little food is donated, we buy extra. So you don’t have to worry that we won’t have enough.
Shelf life
Sometimes we have products that are past the sell by date. But these are still safe to eat if we offer them!
The T.H.T. date on Dutch packages is the Best Before date. This is the manufacturer’s warranty date. After that date the quality decreases gradually. You will not notice this at first. So the food is still safe to eat. It will not make you ill.
We are allowed to offer some products a certain time beyond the best before date. How long, depends on the product. This has been agreed with the NVWA (Dutch Food and Consumer Food Safety Authority).
Fresh produce is marked with a T.G.T date (sell by, use by). You should not eat these products after this date because this can make you ill. We will not offer these products.
More information can be found at the Food Bank (in English).
Frozen products
To prolong shelf life, we sometimes freeze fresh products. This concerns meat, bread, vegetables and dairy products. We can offer these products for an additional two months.
The products are marked by a special sticker (see above). You can put them in the freezer at home. Or you can defrost them and eat them the same day. Frozen vegetables can be baked or cooked without defrosting.
Do not refreeze products after defrosting.
Clothing Bank
You will receive a referral letter for the clothing bank from us. The Clothing Bank is located above the ‘ECO kringloop’ at Peppelkade 9a in Houten. Www.deecokringhouten.nl/kledingbank
At the Clothing Bank you can get free clothes for your family several times a year.
The clothing bank is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. Take identification with you on your first visit!
For kids
We regularly have articles especially for children. You can find them on the special shelves in our store.
Each child receives a gift box from the Jarige Job Foundation to celebrate their birthday. This box contains a gift, decorations, baking material and something to treat at school. Please note, you must give permission for this!
With Sinterklaas (5 december), the ‘Houten Geeft’ Foundation will provide gifts and sweets for all families with children up to 12 years old.
Our rules
Not without obligations
Our volunteers make time for you. And we ensure that the products are there for you.
That is why we also expect things from you:
- That you pick up your package every week.
- That you keep an appointment
- That you hand in requested documents on time
If you are not able to come, you must let us know.
Also, we would also like to hear why you are not able to come. Maybe we can find a solution.
Not coming without notice?
Forgetting it once can happen. We will always try to contact you.
But if you do not come, it can have consequences. We will stop the packages if you haven not shown up twice without contacting us. And we notify your carer or contact person.
Do you want to start receiving food packages again? Then you need to reapply.
Consent
At the Food Bank Houten we value your privacy.
We need personal details to process your application. We store these in a secure digital system. We need your consent to do this. You can give your consent via our digital consent form.
You can change your consent by renewing the digital consent form or sent an email to aanvraag@voedselbankhouten.nl. See also the www.voedselbankhouten.nl/privacy-statement. This statement is also available at the Food Bank.
We will NEVER give your details to anyone else without your permission.
Please, do you consider the privacy of other customers?
Not satisfied?
All volunteers of the food bank do their utmost. Yet it can happen that something goes wrong.
Please, tell the coordinator at the Food Bank or mention it during an interview at the town hall. Or send an e-mail to logistiek@voedselbankhouten.nl.
Together we can try to find a solution.
If you believe that the problem has not yet been resolved, you can submit a complaint.
File a complaint
A complaint must be submitted in writing to the board of the Food Bank Houten; by letter or by mail.
Bestuur Stichting Voedselbank Houten
De Poort 81
3991 DX Houten
bestuur@voedselbankhouten.nl
Do you want to file a complaint? Please read the complete complaints procedure on our website www.voedselbankhouten.nl/klachten. The complaints procedure is available in Dutch, English and Arabic.
