Thank you for contacting Community Food Share! We are excited about your interest in helping to end food insecurity in our community. Our success and growth over the years can be directly attributed to individuals and groups like your own who volunteer their time and talents to help improve the lives of others. A little giving goes a long way . Thank you.
This packet contains information you will need to organize a successful food drive. Please keep in mind that we are always here to help answer any questions that may arise and to brainstorm with you some creative ways to ensure a very successful drive.
HOW TO GET STARTED
Organizing a food drive can be very fun and exciting. The best way to ensure a smooth effort is to spend time planning the drive. The primary steps to include in your plan are:
Set dates: Consider what time of year you want to hold your drive. Keep in mind that we can benefit the most from food drives conducted between July and October. When setting the date(s) allow plenty of time to prepare and get the word out, and also to coordinate with our staff.
Tour Community Food Share: Bring along as many interested colleagues as possible. Please call ahead to schedule a tour with our staff. (303) 652-3663
Set a goal : Decide how much food you would like to collect during your food drive. How many potential contributors do you have? How much can you reasonably expect to collect from each donor? Will you collect food or cash-or both?
Develop a Collection System: Determine how and where food will be collected. You can use boxes, barrels or bins. Small to medium-size boxes work well for food drives. They aren't too heavy when full and can be decorated with festive wrap or Community Food Share posters. We encourage you to use your own boxes for food drives.
Food Delivery: Once collected, one of the best ways you can helps us is by delivering the food to the Community Food Share warehouse in Niwot, located at 6363 Horizon Lane, Monarch Office Park, on Highway 52 off the Diagonal Highway (Hwy 119) - refer to this link for directions. Our warehouse hours are Mondays and Wednesdays 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; Tuesdays from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; and Thursdays and Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 Noon.
Saving Community Food Share the delivery trip is equivalent to making an additional donation. However, if your drive has generated more food than you can transport on your own, please call Community Food Share to arrange a pickup. If your drive has generated 1,000 pounds (approximately 100 grocery bags) or less, in an effort to be most productive, you have the option of delivering the food to one of our Member Agencies throughout Boulder and Broomfield Counties. Please contact the agency directly for drop-off hours.
Longmont
O.U.R. Center
250 3 rd Ave.
303-772-5529
Good News Center
120 9th Ave, #A10B
303-678-9550
Boulder
Emergency Family Assistance Association
900 Arapahoe
303-442-3042
St. Thomas Aquinas Food Bank
904 14 th Street
303-442-5931
Lafayette
Sister Carmen Community Center
701 W. Baseline
303-665-4342
Louisville
Louisville United Methodist Church
741 Jefferson Ave
303-666-8812
Broomfield
FISH Inc.
12 Garden Center, Ste. 110
303-465-1600
PUBLICITY TIPS
The success of your drive will depend on how well you get the word out. Here are some tips to make it easier.
Come up with a fun slogan and theme for your drive. Some theme ideas include:
Designate a company day to bring in food to Community Food Share
Allow casual dress for a day if the individual brings food
Hold an event/party where the cost of admission is 10 or more cans of food
Hold a dinner party where admission is a bag of food
Hold an intra-company competition and award a prize for the most food collected
Have company match food
Brainstorm ideas on your own
Make sure to include the following information in your publicity materials:
Theme of the Food Drive
Dates of the drive
Location of collection sites
Types of food needed (see attached list)
Name and brief description of Community Food Share
Develop appropriate materials: These include flyers, posters, banners for lunchroom, articles for your newsletter, interoffice memos or emails, public service announcements and press releases. Community Food Share has camera-ready logos, large logos to decorate your collection boxes and copies of CFS sheets available upon request.
SHOPPING LIST
Food items that are urgently needed by our agencies and clients include:
- Canned Fruit
- 100% Fruit Juice
- Cold & Hot Cereal
- Canned Tuna/Fish and Meat
- Canned Chili and Stew
- Pasta Sauce
- Peanut Butter
- Canned Tomatoes
Many of our clients and agencies need non-food items. These include:
- Toothpaste and toothbrushes
MONETARY DONATIONS
With every $1 donated, we are able to distribute 4.0 pounds of food and one pound of food equals one meal . Since we are a food bank and a member of Feeding America, the nationwide network of food banks, we can leverage financial donations to distribute more than 4 times as much food as can be purchased in a grocery store for the same amount of money. Click here to securely Donate Online .
