Food Drives
As a food provision charity there are two things that are critical to our survival, food and money to buy food. Food drives are an integral part of our growth strategy, but the way we store and deliver food presents a unique set of challenges. For example;
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Because food is stored in a non-refrigerated warehouse, only nonperishable food items can be used.
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The backpacks we use are smaller than the standard size backpack and have to hold six meals. Single serving size items are always the best.
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Single serving drink items must be shelf-stable also (not requiring refrigeration).
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We cannot use any food item that comes in a glass container.
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We try not to load kids up on sugar so, when possible, healthier, low sugar snack items are preferred.
Also, when doing a food drive it is better to focus on 1 to 3 items. A common occurrence is for donors to give “one of these and one of those”. But when you’re feeding 500 children 6 meals every weekend, sorting out onezies and twozies can be quite challenging. Every backpack has 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 2 dinners, and a few snacks. Multiply that by 500 backpacks! Every weekend we need 1,000 breakfasts, 1,000 lunches, 1,000 dinners, 2 to 4 thousand snacks. Every school year we need 132,000 meals, that’s 44,000 breakfasts, 44,000 lunches, and 44,000 dinners. That many meals is much easier to manage when food drives focus on a few specific items.
The photographs below show what types and sizes of food items work best. Also below are a few food drive ideas. We’re always happy to get your thoughts and new ideas too!