Donations >> Donate Food |
Hold A Food Drive | Donate
Your Services | Monetary
Donations | Wish List | How Your Business Can Help
Hold a Food Drive
Food Drives are appreciated year-round. During the winter
holiday season, we receive many generous food drive donations,
but as the months get warmer, our food donations dwindle. Summer
is a very hard time for families whose children receive free or
reduced-price school breakfasts and lunches during the school
year. Be a food drive pioneer and collect food during the summer!
Food Drive Overview:
Thank you for your interest in coordinating a canned food drive!
If you are affiliated with a group that would like to have a guest
speaker, please be aware that someone from Food Gatherers can come
to you and talk about hunger issues and our organization. Your
group can also arrange a tour of our facility.
- Every Item Helps!
- We are here to help you. Give us a call if you need
anything
- Since we are a non-profit organization, Food Gatherers
can not be associated with any sales or marketing efforts for
another
product. Some companies or groups have used the canned food drive as a way
to encourage people to come to their store or their gathering
and that is fine.
- Please ensure that any food collected is non perishable
and usable (no damaged cans, no expired products).
- Our trucks
are fairly large and for efficiency and fuel issues, are only
scheduled to pick up donations of 50 pounds
or more. That is about 75 cans, so if you have that many, please remember that
we request at least 2 days notice to
schedule a pick-up (though
more notice is appreciated, especially near the holidays) we
also need at least a 2 hour window of time on the day of the
pick up, as we include these into our regularly scheduled food
runs to save
time and resources.
- If you can deliver the food to
our warehouse, we will help you unload the food, and you can
find out how much it weighs
right away!
- Please provide us with enough information about your organization
so we can acknowledge the donation properly.
- Financial
donations are also accepted in conjunction with food drives.
We can provide 120 meals for just $25!
[top of page]
Food Drive Ideas:
- Competition between departments, schools, grades, class homerooms,
businesses, etc.
- Breakfast food drives.
- Kids snack food drives.
- Request food donations for Food Gatherers instead of birthday
gifts at your next birthday party.
- Neighborhood food drives.
* Don't forget! Food Gatherers can purchase a
pound of food for just 14¢ and your financial donation is
tax deductible. Click
here to learn more about donating money.
[top of page]
Food Drive Tips:
- Plan ahead – Select a leadership committee to plan your
strategy and theme. Determine the start date and length of
your drive.
- Set a goal – Decide upon how many pounds
you want to collect. An easy way to do this is to set a goal
for each participant and multiply this figure by your total
head count. If your group or company has a competitive spirit,
you may want to create an award or prize for the winning person
or team.
- Register and arrange
food collection barrel delivery and pick up dates. Food Gatherers
can provide bins and/or boxes,
as well as
information sheets about where the food goes. Make sure
to plan ahead for a pick up (or you can deliver it to our warehouse
anytime
M-F 9-5). Weekend and evening pick-ups are not available.
- Get management involved –
~
If your food drive is being
held at work, encourage executives to show their support
by sending email, voicemail or
letters.
~ Ask your company to match employee donations. For example,
your company might give $1 for each pound of
food raised.
~ Challenge an executive to perform an outrageous
activity if your goal is met.
~ Approach management about becoming a food drive
sponsor.
- Promote your drive –
~
Organize a kick-off event to build enthusiasm.
Structure the event around your food drive
theme.
~ Hand out shopping lists of most needed foods.
Food Gatherers can provide this list, or you
can make
one of your own
according to
your theme.
~ Display weekly or daily totals in high-traffic
areas or announce totals using email to keep
people up to
date and
involved.
~ Encourage people to visit Food Gatherers’ website
to learn more about hunger and what is being
done to prevent it.
~ Include information about your food drive and
final results in your company or school newspaper.
- Make it fun and simple for others to participate –
~
Place grocery bags for collection at every
employee or student desk.
~ Hold an event (a dance, sporting event, party
or concert) and charge a can of food for
admission.
~ Sell ‘dress-down’ or ‘casual dress day’ passes
to your employees in exchange for donations.
~ Create competitions with lots of categories – largest
individual donation, most protein, most unusual
food, or match your weight
with pounds of food.
~ Have ‘macaroni Mondays” “tuna Tuesdays” etc.
to collect specific types of foods.
- Encourage
financial contributions –
~
Set a separate financial goal from pounds
raised
~ Order and distribute donation envelopes from
Food Gatherers.
~ Encourage participants to make donations
online (coming soon – virtual
food drive!)
(information taken from America’s Second Harvest, National
Hunger Awareness Day information) [top of page
Food Drive Food Suggestions:
Here are some suggestions of canned and dry goods
that are nutritious and easy to use: Food Gatherers does not accept opened containers and expired products,
and asks that you avoid items in glass as they often break in transit.
Thank You!
Tuna Fish or other canned fish or meat
Beef Stew, Meat Soups
Hearty Soups
Canned Spaghetti or Pasta
Chili
Beans (kidney, pinto, green, yellow, refried or black beans)
Baby Food or Formula
Ensure or other nutritional supplement drinks
Rice
Dry Beans
Noodles, Macaroni
Powdered Milk
Pancake or Baking Mixes
Cereal/Oatmeal
Granola Bars
Peanut Butter
Jelly (in plastic jars)
Personal Care Items
Diapers
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
Soap
Shampoo
Disposable Razors [top of page]
|
