Unless you work someplace where you can get food deeply discounted or free, give money. Food pantries can buy food more cheaply than your average donor can. This also lets them buy what they know their patrons NEED (including personal hygiene products, diapers, pet food, etc.).

Also, cash can't spoil between you donating it and them receiving it. (This skeet brought to you by the time I noticed a loaf of bread in the church donation barrel that was hairier than I was.)

The food pantry near us regularly has a line two blocks long. That is too many people! That is too many people suffering and hungry! Where are my taxes going? Why aren't we helping hungry people? It's sick!!

$100/month, every month

My local communist organization regularly gives out free food, and according to visitors food pantries often just give out soup, as in food that is for the most part water.

I bumped up my monthly donation amount once the pandemic started. The grocery store I work at also donates generously to food pantries daily. No one should go hungry.

also from a donation/finance perspective, it's much easier to calculate out for taxes and in financial records. Monetary gifts are better than donations of things, always.

I started donating to a food bank in my area at the beginning of the pandemic. We can afford to put food on our table. It’s a good feeling to help put food on someone else’s.

This area is so broke that we haven’t seen food pantries since 2020

Also, you cannot know what they need as well as they do. I donated a chunk of money early in the lockdown here. It was used to buy big bags, so they could deliver food etc to people. Lockdown had prevented them from opening their usual premises

Can I make one tiny addition: our local food bank said they don’t mind getting donations of kids’ sugary breakfast cereals, because their nutritional rules don’t allow the purchase of such things, but sometimes coco puffs make a kid happy, you know? (This might not be true everywhere of course)