Can You Help?

You can use these flyers in your food drive:

Food Drive Flyer

Checklist for Food Drive Success

Getting Started on Your Food Drive

1. Find out if there are any restrictions for holding a food drive, and find out what support you can hope for.
2. Contact SSKP at 860-388-1988 to let us know you are planning a food drive.
3. Ask if we have a list of items that we need most.
4. Pick the location and dates of the food drive.
5. Set a goal for your food drive. How many pounds, or cans, or bags of food do you want to collect?
6. Select a place where donations will be dropped off and the food can be kept.
7. Provide collection boxes that are clearly marked for collecting food.
8. After the drive, have volunteers deliver the food to the soup kitchens.
9. Call ahead and let us know when you will be delivering the food.

Holding the Food Drive

Now that your food drive plans are set, it’s time to get creative. Here are some ideas you can use to ramp up participation
and bring in donations that will help your community be more prepared.

• Canned foods make great art! Host a competition for the best canned food sculpture. Create categories, such as funniest, scariest or biggest. Leave the sculptures on display.
• Make posters about the food drive and put them up in locations where people can see them. 
• Pass out fliers with a list of nonperishable foods and other items people should donate.
• Get the word out through your school’s morning announcements, newsletters, e-mails or Web site.
• Make a poster or sign shaped like a can showing how many pounds of food you plan to gather. Color in the can to mark your progress in meeting your goal.

Coordinate your food drive with the Stamp Out Hunger campaign, organized each year by the U.S. Postal Service and the National Association of Letter Carriers.
The campaign, online at www.helpstampouthunger.com, encourages Americans to leave food drive donations by their mailboxes for pick-up by mail carriers.

• Pass out food drive shopping lists to customers as they enter the store and let them know you’ll be there to accept their donations on the way out.
• Make sure you have signs that clearly denote who you are and what the food drive is for.
• Write a press release about the food drive and contact your local weekly or community newspaper. Ask them to help promote the food drive, or to come take a picture of the donations as they are delivered to the food bank.

Remember: We need help year-round. So start planning your food drive! Your community will thank you.

Learn More