Causecast

#1: How To Organize A Community Food Drive

by SARAH NELSON, Contributing Writer

With our economy still recovering from its worst recession in decades, the holiday season will be more of a pinch on finances than many have ever experienced. Food pantries around the country are feeling the pressure of increased need as patrons seeking food has shot up more than 25 percent in the last year.

The good news is there is a lot you can do to help out the hungry in your community. By organizing a local food drive, you can pool your neighborhood’s resources together to make the holidays a little brighter for struggling families. Here are a few steps to get you started.

Step One: Find somewhere to donate to.

Before you do anything else, make sure you have a food distribution network to work with. For most of the year, food organizations are in constant need to donations, but the holidays can be different. They are either really desperate for help or so overwhelmed with donations that they have to turn away holiday specific items. You can do it a few different ways:

• Contact your local food bank and find out what they are doing for the holidays. They may need specific items and can let you know what they need and what they don’t. If you’re in the L.A. area, check out the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. If you live in the Bay Area, you can register your food drive with the San Francisco Food Bank.

• Contact a national food network to partner with. For example, Feeding America who has committed to feed millions this holiday season. Check out their local contacts to find the best person to talk to in your area.

• You don’t have to partner with a huge organization to make sure donations are used. Try partnering with a local school or church. Both get slammed this time of year with phone calls from families in need. A lot of times they have to turn people away because they lack the resources to provide for everyone that asks. If you can provide the food, it’s a pretty safe bet that they will be able to provide some hungry people.

Step Two: Be organized.

The last thing you want is chaos to ruin the excitement of your community food drive. Be intentional. Be strategic. If you plan ahead, you’ll feel better about your outcome and will ultimately be able to make a larger impact.

• Establish a small committee to plan and coordinate the food drive. The biggest elements you’ll need to cover are planning, volunteer recruitment, promotion, collection and assembly.

• Set up specific drop-off locations and make sure you indicate when your food drive ends so you don’t find barrels full of items showing up after the holidays.

• Be sure and designate specific dates for your food drive. If you give people two months to contribute, there is a good chance you’ll lose momentum. To maximize the holiday need, limit the dates of the actual food drive to about two weeks or less.

• Have a back up plan. The last thing you want to do is throw food away. If you do meet your quota and have boxes of stuffing mix coming out your ears, have an alternate drop off option for donors. Suggest a local food pantry or shelter.

Step Three: Be specific.

• Let supporters know what exactly you are looking for in food donations — stuffing mix, potatoes, canned gravy, canned vegetables. Get the idea?

• Unless you have access to major refrigeration storage, do your best to stick to non-perishable foods.

• If you want to give perishable items, but don’t have the means to store items, consider including grocery store gift cards on your request list.

• If you’re planning to partner with a organization to donate your collected food make sure you get a copy of their food request list. If they are trying to sponsor vegan meals, you probably are going to have a hard time getting them to take prime rib.

Step Four: Create awareness.

To feed as many people as possible you need the help of as many people as possible. Make your community food drive stick in the forefront of people’s minds by spreading the word as much as you can. You don’t have to hire a skywriter (although, that’s not a bad idea), but you do need to be creative in how you promote your efforts.

• Canvas your community. Starbucks and other local coffee shops often have community bulletin boards where you’ll find band flyers, personal trainers, lost puppies and YOUR food drive info. All you have to do is ask for some space and chances are your flyer will land in some prime real estate.

• Reach out to your local paper and news stations to see if you can get some coverage of your food drive. Write up a press release and send it around, make phone calls and bug all the necessary people. They just might snatch up your story!

• Harness the power of social networking. Start a Facebook event. Tweet your info. Post your event with Do Something.org.

Step Five: Don’t be afraid to seek corporate help.

Everyone feels extra generous this time of year and that includes corporations looking for some good holiday PR or a last-minute tax break. Take advantage of their holiday spirit and get them in on your effort to feed the community.

• Make contact early. Most corporations try to complete their community outreach donations in the first few days of the month.

• Put together a brief cover letter explaining your project and your specific requests.

• If you plan to partner with a nonprofit on your event, come prepared with all their information and their tax-ID exemption number.

Step Six: Don’t go it alone.

There is no reason to try to pull a successful food drive off by yourself – especially when you have a whole community of people to partner with. Contact local schools, churches, businesses and community organizations and invite them to help out. If you run into other food drives that are being organized, offer to join forces! The more, the merrier!

Check out more Holiday Do It Yourself Projects.

Photo by Shaun Greiner, flickr.