Interfaith MinistriesSchoolFoodDriveToolkit
Contents
CoordinatorInstructions……………………………………………………………..………………..……2
FoodDriveChecklist……………………………………………..………………………………….…………3
Whatneedstobedonein ordertohold asuccessfulfooddrive? Usethislistforsomehelpful ideasandinspiration.
HoldingaFoodDrive? It’s aseasyasA-B-C……………………………………………………..….4
Lookingforgreatideasorlittlesparksofcreativitytolightyourfooddrive fire? Thisguide hasitall…holdingafooddrivereallyisaseasyasA-B-C.
CollectionGuide……………………………………………………………………..………………………….8
Curiousaboutwhatyourdrive shouldcollectforInterfaith Ministries?Thisisalistofitemswe haveahigh demandforthroughouttheyear.
CoordinatorInstructions
DearFoodDriveCoordinator,
Thankyousomuchforsteppingupandtakingtheleadonyourschool’sfooddrive. Interfaith Ministriesknows thatyouhavemanydemandsonyourtimeand wetrulyappreciateyourcommitmenttohelpingdrive hungerfromourcommunities!
AstheFood DriveCoordinatorforyourschool,youwillserveastheliaisonbetweenyourschooland Interfaith Ministries. Weareheretosupportyouinthatendeavor. Ifyouneedanything,pleasedonothesitate tocontact Interfaith Ministries at (209)572-3117.
Takeamomenttofamiliarizeyourselfwiththematerialscontainedinthistoolkit.Wewanttomakethis experienceasfunandaseasyforyouaspossible. Tothatend,wecreatedorganizational,inspirationaland marketingtoolstohelpyougetstartedandkeepthemomentumgoing.
Inadditiontothetoolswithinthiskit,Interfaith Ministries alsohasfooddrive boxesandothermarketingmaterial availableforyouruse. Wecanalsohelpyouarrangeaspeakerforyourfooddrivekick-offevent. Letus knowwhatyouneedandwewillbehappytohelpyou.
ChecklistforSuccess
Onyourmark…
□Appointafooddrive committeetohandlethelogisticsofthedrive.
Decidewhowillserveasthemaincoordinatorandpointofcontact.
Consider appointingotherswhoareenthusiasticaboutthedriveasyourchampions.
□Setafooddrive goal.
□Setadate.
□Setalocation.
□Ifyouplantohaveakick-offevent,requestaspeaker..
Getset…
□Startplanningyourmarketingcampaign.Howwillyougetthewordoutandgetpeopleinterestedin thedrive?
□PrintoffdocumentsfromInterfaith’swebsiteorrequestourlogotouseonyourown.
□Sendoute-mails,memos,phonemessagesandnewsletterstopublicizethedrive.Butremember, personalappealswillbemoresuccessfulthanmassmailings!
□Requestalloftheneededitemsandspacesforyourkick-offevent!
Go…
□Placeyourtapedcollectionboxesinheavilytrafficked,easilyvisibleareas.
□Sendoutfrequentnotificationsaboutyourprogresstowardyourgoal.Includeahungerfactofthedaytohelphighlighttheneedforfooddonations.
□Ifcompeting,sendoutfrequentnotificationsabouttheprogressofeachgradeorclass.
Atthefinishline…
□Call Interfaithtoscheduleyourdrop-off/pick-uptime.Pleasegiveat least24hoursnotice.
□Shareyoursuccessandthankthosewhoparticipated.
□Celebrateyoursuccess.
HoldingaSchoolFoodDriveforInterfaith? It’saseasyasA-B-C…
Aimfor100%participation.
Whatwouldhappenifeveryoneatyourschooldonated atleastonecan? Donatedtwocans? Howmuch couldyoucollect? Havingagoalof100%participationmightseemlikealoftyone,butrememberthatpeer pressurecanbeagoodthing…ifit’sfocusedonapositivegoallikethisone!
BagHunger
Engageyourstudentsandchallengethemtofillagrocerybagwithfoodandbringittoclass,orbetter yet, organizeagrouptogoaroundandcollectin thecommunity.
Competition
Sometimesthe bestfooddrivesarethe result ofalittlefriendlycompetition. Considerhavingdifferent grades,classes,orothergroupscompeteagainsteachother. Braggingrightsareoftenenough,butmaybe you could sweeten the deal with icecream, pizzaor a trophy for the winners. Either way,friendly competitionwillspurparticipation!
Don’treinventthewheel
Doesyourschoolalreadyhaveagreatwayofreachingouttoitsstudentsandengagingthem? Usethose samemethodstoencourageparticipationinyourfooddrive.
Educate
Some ofthe most successfulfooddrivesare ones where the participants trulyunderstandwhat Interfaithdoesandwhywedoit. Needmoreinformation? Interfaith is happy to provide a speaker to kick off your event and provide information.
Facebookandothersocialmedia
Don’tunderestimatethevalueofpeernetworksonsocialmediasiteslikeFacebookorTwitter. Thesesites canprovideyouwith aquickandwide-reachingabilitytoreachouttostudents.
Goalsinsightaregoalsinmind
Theveryfirstthingyoushoulddoissetagoalforthisyear’s drive. Whensettingthatgoal,thinkaboutthe totalpoundsyouwouldliketoraiseaswellasparticipationlevels.Sometimesaimingfor100%participation isas effective as aiming for a certain number of pounds.
Highlight yourprogress
Inorder forgoalstobeeffective,theymustbeattheforefrontofeveryone’sminds. Createlarge,visible postersthatwillhelpyourschoolvisualizethegoalandhangtheminheavilytraffickedareas. Createa centraldrop-offlocationwhereeverybody canwatchtheirdonationsaccumulate.
Involveeveryone
Everyonecanhelpmakeyourfooddrivesuccessful. Considerchargingdifferentpeopleorgroups witha specifictask. Forinstance,oneclasscouldbeinchargeofweighinginthedonations,another couldkeep track of the donations for your competition, have an arts group create your posters or other materials…there’saroleforeveryoneduringyourfooddrive. Andthemorepeopleyoucaninvolve,the morefoodyouwillbeabletocollect.
Justthetickettodriveouthunger
Consider the daily class with the most donations receiving a raffle style ticket to redeem at the end of the drive for an extra 10 minutes at recess??
Kick-offevent
Tostartyourdriveoffright,considerhavingakick-offeventtoinvigorateyourstudentbody. Offeringfood pairedwiththeopportunitytobringindonationsisagreatwaytogetthewordoutaboutthecause. How abouthavinga funrally? InviteInterfaithspeakerstocome outand educate yourstudentsduringthekick-offevent. Thosethatholdeventslikethistendtohavemoresuccessfulfooddrives becauseeveryoneisonthesamepageandfeelsconnectedtothemission.
Less work,losehunger
A food drive requires little work from the school. We’ll provide the collection bins, we’ll pick up the bins when the drive is complete. There’s no money to keep track of, packets for students to return or an excessive amount of work to be done. We are here any time to help is you have a question or concern. Such an easy way to support the fight on hunger in our community!
Marketing,marketing,marketing
Itcan’tbesaidenough:thesuccessofyourdrivedependsonyourabilitytomarketthecausetoyour studentsandmotivatethemtoparticipate. Exploreavarietyofwaystogettheattentionofyourschooland remember: themoretimesamessageisheard,themorelikelyitwillinspiresomesortofaction.
Notyouraveragefooddrive…
If youwanttofillupyourfooddriveboxes,youhavetothinkoutsideoftheboxandgetpeople’sattention. Themoreuniqueyourideasand the betteryoucancommunicatethoseideastoyourstudent body,the moresuccessfulyourdrive willbe!
Outreach
Whenyouareframingyourmarketingcampaign,think aboutinvolvingallstudents,facultyandstaff.Hunger affects everycommunity,evenyours,andInterfaithisdedicated todrivinghungerfrom ourarea. Reachouttoeverybodyatyourschoolandthesurroundingcommunityandchallengethemtohelpyou meetyourgoal!
Passivedrivesdon’twork
Schoolsthat justleaveoutboxesandhopethat theirstudentsdonatewillbesorelydisappointed. Passive drivesdon’twork. Puttingintheefforttoactivelyengageyourcommunityinyourdrivewillmakeyou successful! Everycancounts,butthemorecansyoucancollect,themoreyouwillbeabletomakea difference!Createaplanofaction,keepagoalin sight,engageeverybodyandyouwillbesuccessful!
Quantitymatters,butsodoesquality
Althoughweencouragecollectingasmanypoundsaspossible,it’salsoimportant torememberthat this foodwillgotosolve arealneed:hungerinStanislaus County.Expiredordamageditemsarelessusefulin meetingthatneed.
Interfaith has identifiedanumber ofitems that are inhighdemand and alsoallowustomeet the growing need in our region. For a great listingof the items that are most needed year-round by Interfaith,refertotheflieronpage8ofthistoolkit.
Rewards andrecognition
Your studentsaregoingtoworkhard tohelpmakeyourfooddriveasuccess. Makesureyoutakethe opportunitytorewardthem. It’simportant thatyourschoolcommunityknowshowsuccessfultheywere. Icecreamorpizzapartiesaregreatincentives,butdon’tthinkthatrewards havetobecostly. Often,they don’thavetobemorethanjustbragging rights. Announcetheteam whoraised themost foodina campus-wide e-mailorin thelocalpaper. Even a few extra minutes out at recess are a hit with students!
SayThankYou
Afteryoureachouttoyourschool,makesureyousaythankyoutothosepeoplethathelpedyouachieve yourgoal. Hand-written thank younotes, certificatesor other awards can be extremely gratifyingand generate moresupportforyourdrivenextyear.
The price is a can
Agreatway toraisefood foryourdriveistoholdspecial eventswherethepriceof admissionisacanortwo. Perhapsconsider havingafun “extra” available on campus where the price of admission is a can of food (extra recess, healthy treat, stickers, etc).
Use our Materials
Interfaithhasworkedhardtoprovideavarietyofpromotionalmaterialstomakeyourjobeasier. Use ourbrandedmaterialstoreachouttoyourstudents, teachers,andstaff.
Valuablelessons
Rememberthat nomatterhowmuchfoodyouareabletoraise,therearevaluablelessonstobelearned. Helping yourstudents realizethattheireffortscanmakeadifferenceintheircommunityissoimportant. Encouragetheirgreatideasandefforts!
Whatelsecanyoudo?
Encourage families to make it a group effort, keep it fun and simple, praise the students for their efforts not only to “win”, but for being a leader in our community towards fighting hunger.
X-traeffortisworthitintheend
Themoreeffortyouputintoyourfood drive,thebetter yourchancesofsuccess. Attheendoftheday,this eventisaboutmotivatingyourschoolcommunitytomakeadifferenceanddriveouthunger. Everycan counts!
Yes,wecan!
Givingyourallwon’tmatterwithoutagreatcan-dospirit. Afooddrive’ssuccessisn’tdeterminedbythesize oftheclassinvolved,butbythat group’sheartandsoul. Getyourstudentsonboard andemphasize a positive“Yes,wecanCANhunger”attitudeandyourfooddrivewillbesuccessful.
Zeroinonyourfooddrive!
Thisisagreatopportunityforyourschooltoshine. Putonyourthinkingcaps andlightthecandleof creativitytohelpdrivehungerfromourcommunities! Remember…everycancounts!
WhatShouldYourFoodDriveCollectforInterfaith
Interfaithreliesonfooddrivestobringinmuchneedednon-perishableitems.Theitemsthatyourschoolcollectswillbedirectly distributed to members of our community who would often otherwise go hungry. Thepeoplewhorelyontheseprogramsareoftenstrugglingtofeeda family with children. Donatinghealthyfooditemswill helpouragenciesthemost.
Thelistbelowincludessomeofthemostneededandhighly demanded foods in our community.
Chooseproductsthatareinboxes,cans,orplasticbottlesanddonothavetoberefrigerated. Breadand
bakedgoodsarenotideal becauseoftheirshortshelflife.Itemsshouldberecentlypurchasedandingood
condition.
Pleasecall(209)572-3117Interfaith with any questions.
High-PriorityItems
Canned/Shelf-stabletuna
MacaroniandCheese CannedPasta
CannedBeefStew
CannedChili
Peanut Butter
Jelly (in plastic, not glass)
CannedFruit
Cannedvegetables
CannedFruit
BreakfastCerealandHotCereal