Planning a Food Drive

Tarrant Area Food Bank’s work to fight hunger would not be possible without community support. Each year, food drives result in about 1 million pounds of food that we are able to distribute to hungry North Texans. There are many ways to go about planning a food drive. Some drives focus primarily on bringing in food donations. Others focus more on collecting funds. Many drives include a little of both. With dedication, creativity and helping hands, your drive is bound to be a success.

If you plan to collect funds through your drive, take a few minutes to create your own fundraising page on teamtafb.org. In a few clicks, you’ll receive a link that you can send to people in your community to ask for their support. You’ll also get tips to help you in your online fundraising. In addition, you can personalize your fundraising page with photos, videos and a message on why this cause matters to you.

Every dollar you raise during your food drive helps TAFB provide five meals for those who are hungry.

• Determine a beginning and end date for your food drive.
• Select food drive leaders with time to devote to the drive and meet with them to go over your plan.
• Recruit a team to deliver donations to Tarrant Area Food Bank when your food drive ends.
• Create a theme for your food drive and decorate accordingly.
• Create a food drive slogan that relates to your company or organization.
• Spread the word about your food drive through your organization’s announcements or email.
• Host a breakfast or lunch to officially kick off the drive.
• Place food drive boxes and posters in lobbies or common areas.
• Encourage people to donate funds along with their food donations. If you register at teamtafb.org, you’ll be able to keep all of your donations in one place.
• Ask each department at your organization to collect a different type of food during the drive. Create an award to recognize the department that collects the most food.
• Encourage competition between floors or departments.
• Build a meal with your food drive. Collect a variety of nonperishable food items that could be put together to create a meal. Ex: A Texas-inspired food drive could include chili, dried or canned beans, baked beans, canned tomatoes, stews and more.
• Piggyback your food drive on another event such as a holiday party.
• Offer incentives or awards for participation in your drive.
• Host a celebration at the end of your drive to announce the results of your work.

Many food and fund drives take place during the holiday season, but food drives are needed all year. If you would like to start a drive, we are glad to work with you to help make it successful. To learn more about TAFB food drives, email Beverly Rozanski.