Food drives are a vital resource for our four main food pantries and smaller locations in schools. They help us put food on the tables of people who don’t have enough food in our community—11 percent of people in Wasatch County, 11.5 percent in Utah County, and 10.4 percent in Summit County.
In 2021, we supported 44 food drives, which brought in more than 410,000 pounds of food—or 9 percent of our total donations for the year. This year we’re committed to supporting even more food drives! Here are some easy ideas to get started and how we can help.
Easy Ideas
The massive community-wide food drives provide thousands of pounds of food to pantries, but the multiple smaller drives are just as critical to us. Plus, smaller drives are easy to organize and execute, and you don’t even need to collect cans.
Host a Wish-List Drive
Have you created a wish list for a birthday, wedding, or baby shower? You can do the same for a food drive. Check out our list of most-needed items and put them on a gift list at Amazon, Walmart, Target, or another online retailer. You can even set it up so that all the donations come directly to the food bank at 815 S. Freedom Boulevard, Suite 100, Provo, UT 84601. Once you’ve got it all set up, all you need to do is spread the word through social media channels and word of mouth.
Create a Facebook Fundraiser
The social media giant makes it easy to create a food drive fundraiser. You won’t be collecting food, though. This type of food drive is all about monetary donations, and all the funds you raise will come directly to us. Once you’ve got it set up, share it with friends and family and post it on community pages. Also, make sure to mention how much good we can do with small donations—for every $1 donated, we can feed a family of four for a day!
Tools for Success
You’re never on your own when you’re hosting a food drive for Community Action Services. We have everything you need to help make your drive a success, including:
- Downloadable posters
- Tips for success
- List of most-needed items
- Promotion of your food drive on our social media channels
- Advertising of your food drive in our monthly newsletter (if timing allows)
- Promotion of your food drive on our website
We hope 2022 is a year filled with food drives! Hosting an online drive is easy, and we’ll provide all the tools you need. If you’re ready to get started, schedule your food drive here so we can help!