| Free Clinic Beacon House |
| St. Petersburg Free Clinic 863 3rd Avenue N. St. Petersburg, FL 33701 Phone 727.821.1200 Fax 727.821.9263 |
Any size firm, group or organization can and have run successful food drives. It just takes some planning,
organization and commitment. Once your group has decided to hold a food drive, the individual responsible
for organizing and conducting the drive should:
1. Gain any necessary permission as well as the support and commitment of senior management or
organization officials.
2. Select a theme for your food drive. It can incorporate an upcoming organizational or special event, a
holiday, or even a non-event, as long as it will be meaningful to those being asked for food. Your theme
should be included in all of your promotional materials.
3. Set the dates for the food drive. Based upon our experience, two weeks is usually about right for most
organizations. Shorter drives work well for smaller, close-knit groups. Most importantly, become aware of
other goings-on within your organization to avoid conflicts when selecting your dates. Then call Ken Murphy,
Food Bank Director, at 727-821-6574. He will provide you with additional ideas to make your food drive a
success.
4. Choose method and location(s) for your food drive. Choosing one large collection box, for example, will
require it to be palletized beforehand and accessible to material handling equipment. Barrels are often ideal
containers and may be easily decorated to match your theme. Boxes, if used, should be sturdy. Most of your
collected food will be canned goods, and very heavy.
The Free Clinic Food Bank has a number of barrels available, for your use. You can put your posters on them
or use ours. When selecting locations for collection, select ones that are highly visible, in areas with the most
traffic and secure for both the people leaving the food and the food itself.
5. Suggest particular foods and items for donation. Owen can tell you what is most needed at the time. All
types of canned and packaged goods are welcome but no perishable foods, please. Also, no glass
containers with the exception of baby food. These steps will keep your collection site(s) neat and clean. For
many smaller groups a truly focused effort works best, such as only asking for peanut butter or jelly, or canned
meats like Tuna and Spam, or spaghetti and sauce, and so on.
6. Promote - promote - promote! Great publicity is the key to success so use as many methods as possible:
E-mail, newsletters, announcement inserts, posters, fliers, or even voice mail. Provide people with a contact
within the organization who can answer questions. We encourage you to have Ken Murphy or another speaker
from the Free Clinic to provide information on hunger and food insecurity in our community, and how important
your food drive is to those in need.
7. Establish a goal and make it fun! If you've held a food drive before, try to increase this year’s total or set a
goal based upon so many pounds per person; and let them know how they’re doing (a thermometer, scales
of justice, etc.). Organize a kick-off event and encourage competition between locations or departments.
Recognize group achievements as well as individual ones. Be creative - make it different and motivating!*
8. When the food drive is successfully completed, you can deliver the food to the Free Clinic Food Bank
located at 863 Third Avenue North in St. Petersburg, please call ahead so that we can inform you of our hours,
be ready to receive it and personally thank you. Simply call Ken Murphy, Food Bank Director to make those
arrangements at 727-821-6574. As much advanced notice as possible is strongly encouraged.
When we receive your donation, we will weigh it and let you know how many pounds of food were collected.
When time permits we can arrange to pick up collected food; this is very limited.
9. Be sure to thank everyone in your group for their participation, including senior management or
organization officers. Use the same methods you used to promote the drive, continuing with your theme.
10. And lastly, thank you in advance for your time, energy and creativity. As a result of your leadership,
your food drive will be a success, helping many people in need.
*Recently, some groups have:
• Awarded a “casual dress day” for employees donating food
• Held a contest using canned goods to construct something
• Allowed participants to donate food in lieu of paying a fine or penalty
• Used each week of their food drive to focus on specific needed items such as: Pasta & Sauce Week
Peanut Butter & Jelly Week
Macaroni & Cheese Week
Chef Boy-Ar-Dee week
organization and commitment. Once your group has decided to hold a food drive, the individual responsible
for organizing and conducting the drive should:
1. Gain any necessary permission as well as the support and commitment of senior management or
organization officials.
2. Select a theme for your food drive. It can incorporate an upcoming organizational or special event, a
holiday, or even a non-event, as long as it will be meaningful to those being asked for food. Your theme
should be included in all of your promotional materials.
3. Set the dates for the food drive. Based upon our experience, two weeks is usually about right for most
organizations. Shorter drives work well for smaller, close-knit groups. Most importantly, become aware of
other goings-on within your organization to avoid conflicts when selecting your dates. Then call Ken Murphy,
Food Bank Director, at 727-821-6574. He will provide you with additional ideas to make your food drive a
success.
4. Choose method and location(s) for your food drive. Choosing one large collection box, for example, will
require it to be palletized beforehand and accessible to material handling equipment. Barrels are often ideal
containers and may be easily decorated to match your theme. Boxes, if used, should be sturdy. Most of your
collected food will be canned goods, and very heavy.
The Free Clinic Food Bank has a number of barrels available, for your use. You can put your posters on them
or use ours. When selecting locations for collection, select ones that are highly visible, in areas with the most
traffic and secure for both the people leaving the food and the food itself.
5. Suggest particular foods and items for donation. Owen can tell you what is most needed at the time. All
types of canned and packaged goods are welcome but no perishable foods, please. Also, no glass
containers with the exception of baby food. These steps will keep your collection site(s) neat and clean. For
many smaller groups a truly focused effort works best, such as only asking for peanut butter or jelly, or canned
meats like Tuna and Spam, or spaghetti and sauce, and so on.
6. Promote - promote - promote! Great publicity is the key to success so use as many methods as possible:
E-mail, newsletters, announcement inserts, posters, fliers, or even voice mail. Provide people with a contact
within the organization who can answer questions. We encourage you to have Ken Murphy or another speaker
from the Free Clinic to provide information on hunger and food insecurity in our community, and how important
your food drive is to those in need.
7. Establish a goal and make it fun! If you've held a food drive before, try to increase this year’s total or set a
goal based upon so many pounds per person; and let them know how they’re doing (a thermometer, scales
of justice, etc.). Organize a kick-off event and encourage competition between locations or departments.
Recognize group achievements as well as individual ones. Be creative - make it different and motivating!*
8. When the food drive is successfully completed, you can deliver the food to the Free Clinic Food Bank
located at 863 Third Avenue North in St. Petersburg, please call ahead so that we can inform you of our hours,
be ready to receive it and personally thank you. Simply call Ken Murphy, Food Bank Director to make those
arrangements at 727-821-6574. As much advanced notice as possible is strongly encouraged.
When we receive your donation, we will weigh it and let you know how many pounds of food were collected.
When time permits we can arrange to pick up collected food; this is very limited.
9. Be sure to thank everyone in your group for their participation, including senior management or
organization officers. Use the same methods you used to promote the drive, continuing with your theme.
10. And lastly, thank you in advance for your time, energy and creativity. As a result of your leadership,
your food drive will be a success, helping many people in need.
*Recently, some groups have:
• Awarded a “casual dress day” for employees donating food
• Held a contest using canned goods to construct something
• Allowed participants to donate food in lieu of paying a fine or penalty
• Used each week of their food drive to focus on specific needed items such as: Pasta & Sauce Week
Peanut Butter & Jelly Week
Macaroni & Cheese Week
Chef Boy-Ar-Dee week
| How to Hold a Food Drive |
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