Food & Friends Food Drive. Planning Kit

Transcription

1 Food & Friends Food Drive Planning Kit Plan a Food Drive - Battling an illness is difficult enough no one should have to do it without a healthy meal. Change a Life. Thousands of individuals and families struggling with life-challenging illnesses depend on Food & Friends each year. 219 Riggs Road, NE, Washington, DC

2 About Food & Friends The mission of Food & Friends is to foster a community caring for men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses by preparing and delivering specialized meals and groceries in conjunction with nutrition counseling. Food & Friends serves over 1 million meals a year to more than 2,800 individuals and families. Each meal is specially designed by a team of dietitians and professional chefs to meet the individual demands of our clients illnesses and medical treatments. How Your Food Drive Helps For clients who have enough mobility and energy to prepare their own food, or for clients who live on the outer reaches of our service area, we provide our Groceries-To-Go program. These grocery deliveries are made to each client s home and are comprised of non-perishable grocery items, a frozen protein pack containing items such as chicken breasts and fish fillets, fresh produce and frozen soups and meals freshly prepared at Food & Friends. Many of the non-perishable items included in these deliveries are collected during food drives. By leading a food drive benefiting Food & Friends, you, and each participant, will make an impact on the lives of our clients. Included in this kit are all the tools you ll need to coordinate your food drive. Conducting a food drive is a fun, simple and important way to support Food & Friends community of caring and help us deliver vital nutrition to individuals and families in need. Good luck getting started! Questions? Call (202) or fooddrives@foodandfriends.org. 2 Food & Friends Food Drive Planning Kit

3 Getting Started Food drives are easy to organize and are a great way to pull a company team, congregation, student body or any group together to make an impact on our community. As a food drive organizer there are a few things you should think about as you get started with your event. 1) Get approval from your company, school or religious group to hold your food drive. 2) Advertise your event via , flyers, announcements, memos whatever works for your group. We ve included a flyer in this kit which you can use. Place clearly labeled boxes or bins around your office, school or religious center to collect items. 3) Provide specifics on what types of donations are accepted. Keep reading for a complete list of items and keep this kit on hand in case anyone comes to you with questions. 4) Let participants know the event will benefit Food & Friends! Make sure your group knows that their donations will be put to work immediately providing vital nourishment to their critically ill neighbors in need. 5) Set a deadline for collections and remind people when it s approaching. This will help motivate people to submit their donations. Challenges are also useful offer a goal of a certain number of items, participants or pounds collected. 6) Plan a drop-off of your collections. Get help from a colleague or friend to pack your car or vehicles with your donations and transport them to Food & Friends. Bring your donations to our facility: 219 Riggs Road, NE Washington, DC Flexible drop-off times: Monday - Thursday: 8:00 am 6:00 pm Friday: 8:00 am 2:00 pm Saturday 8:00 am noon Food & Friends Food Drive Planning Kit 3

4 Food Drive FAQ What s the best time of year to host a food drive? o Anytime! Our clients need your help year round. What kinds of food do you accept? o Nonperishable, canned, or boxed items. View a more complete list on page 5. Are there restrictions on the types of items Food & Friends accepts? o Yes. All food items must meet our high food safety standards and cannot be dented, dusty, damaged or expired. Please, no snack or junk food and no items packaged in glass containers. Can I collect anything other than food items? o Yes! We accept toiletries such as shampoo, deodorant, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste. If you re interested in collecting other non-food items, please give us a call at to learn about our immediate needs. What if I receive a monetary donation during the drive? o Fantastic! Try to collect the name and mailing address of those donors so we can send them a tax receipt for their contributions. What about fresh food like leftovers from a catered lunch? o Due to our strict food safety standards, we cannot accept food prepared outside of our facility. Call for info on other agencies that do accept these donations. Can I just leave my donations outside your building at any time? o No. Please do not leave donations outside. Stop in at our reception desk and make sure your donations make it inside the building. Will Food & Friends pick-up my donations? o No. Food & Friends is very careful to put our resources to work where they re needed most serving our clients nutritious meals. We need to keep our vans and delivery drivers on the road delivering to our clients so we re unable to pick-up your food drive donations. Will I receive an acknowledgement of my contribution? o Yes! As long as you complete the form on page 6 and include it with your collections when you drop it off at Food & Friends, we will be sure to send you an acknowledgement letter. 4 Food & Friends Food Drive Planning Kit

5 Items Our Clients Need Most Canned Goods: Vegetables (no added sodium or low sodium) Fruit (in juice or light syrup) Tuna/Turkey/Chicken (in water) Soup/Chili (low sodium) Beans (or dried beans) Boxed Goods: Dry/Shelf Stable Milk Carnation Instant Breakfast (sugar free) Brown Rice Whole Wheat Pasta Whole Wheat Tortillas Low-Sodium Crackers Non-Sugar Cereal Skillet Dinners Oatmeal/Grits (low sugar) Toiletries: Shampoo & Conditioner Deodorant Soap Toothbrushes/paste Cooking Supplies New Please! Blenders Can Openers Cutting Boards Tupperware Measuring Cups/Spoons PUR Water Filters/Pitchers Microwaves Extras: Cooking Oil Flour Pudding/Cake/Muffin Mix (low sugar) Pancake/Waffle Mix Low-Sugar Syrup Salad Dressing (low fat) Questions? Give us a call: (202) Send us an fooddrives@foodandfriends.org Food & Friends Food Drive Planning Kit 5

6 Food Drive Donation Form Submit this form with your donations when you bring them to Food & Friends. 1. Date Donations Dropped-Off: 2. Contact Information: Organizer s Name: Mr. Mrs. Ms. Company/Organization: Address: City, State & Zip: Phone Number: 3. Description of Donation: (number of boxes/bags; types of items; total cash donations; etc.) 4. Is this donation related to a specific event in honor/memory of someone? (please circle) Yes No Name and Address of Honoree: 5. Notes: Any additional information regarding this donation? 6 Food & Friends Food Drive Planning Kit

7 Food Drive to Benefit Along with nutrition counseling, Food & Friends prepares, packages and delivers nutritious meals and groceries to more than 2,800 people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses throughout Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia. What We re Collecting: Clean, dust-free, non-dented canned and boxed food items Items not past their expiration date Quick meals such as low sodium chili and skillet dinners Canned fruits in juice or light syrup not heavy syrup Canned veggies no salt added or low-sodium Packaged toiletry items such as toothbrushes, shampoo and soap No food in glass containers please! Please Donate Your Items By: Food drive coordinator: Call/ coordinator with questions at: Food & Friends Food Drive Planning Kit 7

8 Food & Friends Food Drive Planning Kit 219 Riggs Road, NE, Washington, DC Plan a Food Drive - Change a Life.