rd Avenue NE FOOD DRIVE CHECK LIST & TIPS FOR SUCCESS

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Rebecca Hamilton
5 years ago
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1 FOOD DRIVE CHECK LIST & TIPS FOR SUCCESS There are a number of types of food drives and ways they can be conducted. Food drives at grocery stores, food drives at neighborhood events or door to door, food drives at schools, and food drives at businesses/organizations/places of worship are all great ways to support North Helpline Food Bank. Below is a guide with general tips and a check list for conducting your very own successful food drive! Hosting food drives at grocery stores PLANNING AHEAD: At the earliest time possible, notify North Helpline of your food, hygiene, or Baby Cupboard drive by ing miranda@northhelpline.org, or calling Keep us in the know! Specify a start and end date and/or time for your food drive. Food drives held at grocery stores generally last one to two days. If you wish to arrange a food drive at a grocery store, permission needs to be granted from that store (either the general manager or the owner) in advance. Set goals for your food drive. No donation is too small, or too big! Decide if you will accept only non-perishable food, monetary donations, or both. Create a collection system. North Helpline can provide donation barrels or boxes*, notify us and arrange a time to pick them up. Often, the best way to transport food donations once they are collected is to use small to medium-sized boxes that are easy to lift. *What s the difference between a barrel and a box? Our donation barrels are 32 gallon trash barrels. They come in bright yellow or red and are very noticeable! Donation boxes are shorter, white cardboard boxes more suitable for a smaller or internally held food drive. GET NOTICED: Promote your food drive. Alert potential donors in your communities using flyers, social media, or word of mouth. Choose a theme. Themed food drives often generate more interest. Brainstorm possible themes (ie: Souperbowl Food Drive, Trick or Treating Food Drive, Martin Luther King Jr. Day Food Drive). Sponsoring competitions between food drive groups or presenting special awards to key players can aid in the success of a food drive. Select a visible location for your food drive. High traffic areas where donation containers are visible are best. Be creative. Consider creating your own poster or sign to display near the donation drop off. DURING YOUR FOOD DRIVE:

2 Greet customers by positioning volunteers near the entrance(s) of the store. Respect the shoppers by not crowding the entrances or forcing information. Have North Helpline s Most Needed Items flyers available for potential donors. Stop handing out flyers 20 minutes before the end of your food drive to give customers enough time to do their shopping and make their donation! Do not leave donations unattended and regularly check donation containers. Transfer donations into smaller boxes if you start to run out of space. Contact North Helpline if you need extra assistance during the food drive (ie: additional collection containers, or more frequent donation pick ups) Review and share our Most Needed Items list. It changes frequently and tells you exactly what the Food Bank and our visitors are in need of right now. Hosting internal food drives at your business/ organization/ place of worship

3 There are a number of places that host food drives for North Helpline year-round, and others that hold food drives on occasion for a special event or during a certain season. PLANNING AHEAD: At the earliest time possible, notify North Helpline of your food, hygiene, or Baby Cupboard drive by ing miranda@northhelpline.org, or calling Keep us in the know! Review and share our Most Needed Items list. It changes frequently and tells you exactly what the Food Bank and our visitors are in need of right now. Specify a start and end date and/or time for your food drive. Most internal food drives at businesses run at least one week to give people time to bring in their donations. Many other organizations and churches, however, have collection bins year round for ongoing food drives. Set goals for your food drive. No donation is too small, or too big! Decide if you will accept only non-perishable food/hygiene items, monetary donations, or both. Create a collection system. If you would like to use North Helpline s donation barrels or boxes*, notify us and arrange a time to pick them up. Often, the best way to transport food donations once they are collected is to use small to medium-sized boxes that are easy to lift. * What s the difference between a barrel and a box? Our donation barrels are 32 gallon trash barrels. They come in bright yellow or red and are very noticeable! Donation boxes are shorter, white cardboard boxes more suitable for a smaller or internally held food drive. GET NOTICED: Promote your food drive. Alert potential donors in your communities using flyers, social media, or word of mouth. Choose a theme. Themed food drives often generate more interest. Brainstorm possible themes (ie: Lake City Christian Church holds a food fight food drive that starts on Ash Wednesday and goes until Easter every year). Sponsoring competitions between food drive groups or presenting special awards to key players can aid in the success of a food drive. Select a visible location for your food drive. High traffic areas where donation containers are visible are best. Be creative. Consider creating your own poster or sign to display near the donation drop off.

4 Hosting food drives at your school Occasionally North Helpline will reach out directly to schools in our service area to request a food drive if our food supply is especially low. However, more often than not a student or someone affiliated with the school will take the steps needed to make the food/hygiene/baby Cupboard drive happen. PLANNING AHEAD: At the earliest time possible, notify North Helpline of your food, hygiene, or Baby Cupboard drive by ing miranda@northhelpline.org, or calling Keep us in the know!

5 Review and share our Most Needed Items list with your school. It changes frequently and tells you exactly what the Food Bank and our visitors are in need of right now. Specify a start and end date and/or time for your food drive. Most food drives at schools run at least one week to give people time to bring in their donations. Set goals for your food drive. No donation is too small, or too big! Decide if you will accept only non-perishable food, monetary donations, or both. Create a collection system. If you would like to use North Helpline s donation barrels or boxes*, notify us and arrange a time to pick them up. Often, the best way to transport food donations once they are collected is to use small to medium-sized boxes that are easy to lift. *What s the difference between a barrel and a box? Our donation barrels are 32 gallon trash barrels. They come in bright yellow or red and are very noticeable! Donation boxes are shorter, white cardboard boxes more suitable for a smaller or internally held food drive. GET NOTICED: Promote your food drive. Alert potential donors at your school using flyers, social media, or word of mouth. Choose a theme. Themed food drives often generate more interest. Brainstorm possible themes (ie: Souperbowl food drive, 100 th day of school food drive, Martin Luther King Jr. Day food drive). Sponsoring competitions between food drive groups (ie: an ice cream party for the grade that collects the most donations) or presenting special awards to key players can aid in the success of a food drive. Select a visible location for your food drive. High traffic areas where donation containers are visible are best. Be creative. Consider creating your own poster or sign to display near the donation drop off. DURING YOUR FOOD DRIVE: Regularly check donation containers. Transfer donations into smaller boxes if you start to run out of space. Contact North Helpline if you need donations to be dropped off or picked up in intervals before your food drive end date. Give us at least two business days notice if changes to your drop off or pick up schedule need to be made.

6 Hosting food drives in your neighborhood The least common type of food drives are ones held at neighborhood events or block parties, and door-to-door. However, these can also be the most fun and worthwhile when the whole community is involved! See our neighborhood food drive flyer on our website if you plan on arranging a door-to-door drive and contact our office as soon as possible, as door-to-door drives require more planning! PLANNING AHEAD: At the earliest time possible, notify North Helpline of your food, hygiene, or Baby Cupboard drive by ing miranda@northhelpline.org, or calling Keep us in the know! Review and share our Most Needed Items list. It changes frequently and tells you exactly what the Food Bank and our visitors are in need of right now.

7 Specify a start and end date and/or time for your food drive. Food drives held at an event or done door-to-door typically last one day. Set goals for your food drive. No donation is too small, or too big! Decide if you will accept only non-perishable food, monetary donations, or both. Create a collection system. If you would like to use North Helpline s donation barrels or boxes*, notify us and arrange a time to pick them up. Often, the best way to transport food donations once they are collected is to use small to medium-sized boxes that are easy to lift. *What s the difference between a barrel and a box? Our donation barrels are 32 gallon trash barrels. They come in bright yellow or red and are very noticeable! Donation boxes are shorter, white cardboard boxes more suitable for a smaller or internally held food drive. GET NOTICED: Promote your food drive. Alert potential donors in your neighborhood using flyers, social media, or word of mouth. *If you re planning on doing a door-to-door neighborhood drive download and share our neighborhood food drive flyer with your neighbors well in advance so they know when donations will be picked up. Let Madeline know if you intend on conducting a door-to-door drive Choose a theme. Themed food drives often generate more interest. Brainstorm possible themes (ie: Souperbowl Food Drive, Trick or Treating Food Drive, Martin Luther King Jr. Day Food Drive). Sponsoring competitions between food drive groups or presenting special awards to key players can aid in the success of a food drive. Select a visible location for your food drive. For neighborhood events, high traffic areas where donation containers are visible are best. Be creative. Consider creating your own poster or sign to display near the donation drop off. DURING YOUR FOOD DRIVE: Greet donors and thank them for their donations! Have North Helpline s Most Needed Items flyers available for potential donors at events. Do not leave donations unattended and regularly check donation containers. Transfer donations into smaller boxes if you start to run out of space. Have a copy of North Helpline s statistics with you to share if anyone wants to know more about North Helpline, the programs we provide, and the people we serve. If you would like a representative from North Helpline to share more information or speak at an event, let us know and we might be able to stop by your event.

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