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Food Drive Kit

Why host a food drive? Food drives are vital for adding richness and variety to our shelves. Choice is a best practice for food pantries: our clients know what they need better than we do. Food drives are a key way to support that practice. 

Below are some suggestions for food drive themes. We also have three suggestions for Care Drives, because we stock our shelves with more than just food. If you have an idea for a drive, let us know! We’d love to work with you!

You can download our planning tool and any of the flyers included below. Contact Catie Badsing with any questions or concerns!

How to Host a Drive

  1. Who will donate? The more donors, the more successful the drive! Think about places you can get a lot of people involved: work, schools, places of worship, clubs….
  2. Pick a Theme: Themed drives can be a lot of fun! Choose from one of our suggested themes, or contact us to make your own.
  3. Pick a Timeframe: Consider how long the drive will run. Too short and there won’t be enough time to collect items. Too long and you could run out of steam. We suggest 2-4 weeks as the optimal time.
  4. Promote, Promote, Promote! Make sure you’re talking about the drive early and often. Post flyers on bulletin boards and send them through email, Teams chats, Slack channels…
  5. Make it Fun: Encourage a little healthy competition to keep donors engaged. For example, you could organize your donors into teams and see how their items stack up — literally!
  6. Celebrate! You did it! Celebrate your success with your team. A pantry client will be able to go home with something special because of your efforts!
  7. Donate: Donations can typically be delivered to 18 Rickel Road Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM. Too much to deliver? Contact us about a pickup!

Breakfast Drive

Culturally Relevant Drive

Home Care Drive

Menstrual Care Drive

Personal Care Drive

School’s Out Drive

Sweets & Staples Drive

Warming Drive