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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!
Below you will find:
- food drive overview
- steps for setting up a food drive
- food drive tips
- a list of the most-requested food items
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, someone from Food Gatherers may be available to come
and talk about the fight against hunger in our community. Your
group can also arrange a tour of our facility.
- We are here to help you. Give us a call or email
us 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. With just $30, we can provide enough food for a
hungry child for one month.
Steps
for setting up a food drive:
- Determine the dates you'd like to hold your food drive - this
can range from one day to several weeks.
- Decide if you'd like to borrow food drive collection containers
and what size you'll need (see pictures below). The large box
will require access to a loading dock and enough floor space
for a pallet.
- If you'd like collection containers, contact
us to request a delivery and arrange a pick-up date.
- If you don't need collection containers but would like to
have the food drive picked up, please let us know. *please
note that while it is tempting to collect food in giant boxes,
it will be very difficult for us to pick up the food. Copy-paper
boxes reinforced with tape are a manageable size.
- If you do not need the food picked up and would like to bring
it to our
warehouse on Carrot Way - that's great! We'd love to help
you unload when you get to our warehouse, so please give us
a call to let us know when you'll be coming. Our building is
open M-F 9-5.
 food
drive barrel - can fit most anywhere!
food drive box - 2 fit on one wooden pallet, and require loading
dock access
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Food
Drive Ideas:
- Competition between departments, schools, grades, class homerooms,
businesses, etc.
- 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
food at discounted prices and your financial donation is tax deductible.
Click here to learn more about donating
money.
- Just $35 feeds a hungry child for a month
- $50 feeds a hungry senior for a month
- $250 feeds a family of four for 6 weeks
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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 secure donations online
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Food
Drive Food Suggestions:
Here are some suggestions of canned and dry goods that
are nutritious and easy to use (followed by downloadable
copies):
Food Gatherers does not accept opened containers
and expired products, and asks that you avoid items in glass as
they sometimes break in transit. Thank You!
Food Items:
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
Dry Pasta
Powdered Milk
Pancake or Baking Mixes
Cereal/Oatmeal
Granola Bars
Peanut Butter
Jelly (in plastic jars)
We also collect Personal Care Items:
Diapers
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes
Soap
Shampoo
Disposable Razors
 Food
Drive donation suggestions 0908 PDF
Food
Drive donation suggestions 0908 MS WORD (for
easy copy/paste into your own document or email)
FG
Hunger Facts 10-08 PDF
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