Food Drives
Food Drive Toolkit
Hosting a food drive for your school, organization, neighborhood, church, club, event, and/or corporation is easy with the help of our food drive toolkit! It’s great way to engage your community and provide much needed help for the hungry children, seniors and families of the Tri-State. Whether it is big or small, we encourage you to get started! Tri-State Food Bank can provide you with collection barrels and assistance in getting started.
If you would like to host a food drive, please fill out the form at the link below and return to:Tri-State Food Bank
2504 Lynch Road, Evansville, IN 47711
Office Hours: Monday - Friday, 7:45 am - 4:30 pm
operations (at symbol) tristatefoodbank (dot) org
• HOW TO ORGANIZE A FOOD DRIVE
Successful food drives require enthusiastic leaders. Get people involved early to develop creative ideas, raise awareness, and increase participation levels. Follow these steps to ensure your food drive is a stunning success!
• DETERMINE LOGISTICS
Start and end dates, your method of collection, and whether you will be picking up barrels and dropping off food drive donations yourself, or whether you will need us to deliver barrels and pick up food donations from your address.
• SET GOALS
Setting a goal is a great way to encourage teamwork and provide contributors with a sense of accomplishment. Make goals realistic and easy to understand. For example, you could set a goal to collect 200 lbs of food (1 can of food is approximately 1 lb.).
• PROMOTE IT
Make it a creative and fun food drive: incorporate competitions and themes, decorate boxes/food barrels and place them in strategic locations where they are in public view, and use fliers to advertise your event.
• MAKE IT FUN
Use incentives to encourage participation. Start an internal competition between departments, classes, or coworkers, to see who can raise the most donations, and/or reward participants with prizes for their contributions. For example, reward a winning team with a pizza party.
• SHARE YOUR SUCCESS
Maintain momentum by keeping participants updated about the food drive. Send out emails announcing the food drive, post progress charts, and keep participants informed with regular competition updates. Bask in the success of your food drive! Your donations will provide food to our friends and families in need.
• BECOME A DONOR
Encourage financial contributions. Participants are welcome to donate money in lieu of food. Every $1 donated helps provide 6 meals to our neighbors in need!
• APPRECIATION
Take the time to thank everyone who participated. Give prizes to top teams, and send thank you notes to all participants. Publicize your success by letting the community know the total amount of food you collected and how many meals your food drive will provide.
Food Drive F.A.Q.
Who can host a food drive?
Anyone can host a food drive! All that is required is leadership and dedication. Individuals, corporations, religious organizations, clubs, schools, and any other organization that can garner support, are welcome to participate.
How do I host a food drive?
Hosting a food drive is easy! First, set up a committee of team leaders and get any necessary approvals from management or administration for your food drive. Then, just register your food drive by filling out the "Host a Food Drive" form here and returning it to Tri-State Food Bank. The registration form will provide us with all of the required information about your food drive so you can get started right away.
When is the best time to hold a food drive?
People go hungry every day of the year. While our biggest food drive events take place during the holidays, we encourage groups to host food drives throughout the year, to keep our supplies well-stocked. You can start your food drive whenever you would like – just let us know your start and end dates on the registration form.
How long should my food drive last?
Part of organizing a food drive is setting a definite start and end date, but Tri-State Food Bank has no restrictions on how long or short your food drive lasts.
What does Tri-State Food Bank provide for my food drive?
Tri-State Food Bank provides blue barrels to help collect the food. We encourage you to pick up barrels at our Tri-State Food Bank warehouse located at 2504 Lynch Road in Evansville, Indiana. Special arrangements can be made for larger food drives for barrel drop off and pick up. You may also use our logo to help promote the food drive. The approved use logo is below.
How much time in advance of my food drive do I need to contact you?
Tri-State Food Bank requests that you give three or more days notice before your food drive. Our drivers have a regularly scheduled route and do barrel deliveres in between.
Can I use my own boxes for food donations?
Yes, if you would like to use your own boxes, you can use those in lieu of our barrels. Our goal is to make your food drive as easy and convenient for you as possible.
Can I drop off food donations at your warehouse?
Yes! If you would rather drop off the food yourself, come to Tri-State Food Bank anytime Monday through Friday between 7:45 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at our warehouse on 2504 Lynch Road, Evansville, IN 47711. Whether you are picking up and dropping off yourself, or having one of our trucks pick up and drop off, it is important to provide this information on your registration form.
What items should people donate? What items are needed most?
Tri-State Food Bank always needs a variety of nonperishable goods. These include canned fruits and vegetables, beans, canned meats, dry pasta, and grains.
We encourage donations of nutritious core food staples and protein food items over food items such as cookies, candy, and junk food. Tri-State Food Bank is dedicated to providing healthy food for our hungry friends.
Here is a list of most needed food items:- peanut butter
- soup
- canned fruit
- beans
- rice
- tuna
- cereal
- fruit juice
- pasta
- pasta sauce
We prefer plastic containers and pop top cans. Unfortunately, we cannot accept home canned or baked products.
How do I get more involved?
Getting involved and encouraging others to get involved starts with awareness. Once people understand our mission and why Tri-State Food Bank exists, they are usually more willing to donate food or monetary donations. Become an advocate for Tri-State Food Bank and help us build awareness in your community by distributing the hunger facts, linking people to our website and Facebook page, and spreading the word about hunger in the Tri-State area.
Do you accept household items and non-food products?
To a certain degree, yes. Things such as household cleaners, pet food, baby diapers, and hygienic products we accept, but please keep all non-food items separate from the food items.
Can people donate money instead of food?
Yes. For every dollar donated, Tri-State Food Bank can provide 7 nutritious meals for our friends in need.
Will you tell us how much food we donated?
Yes. Tri-State Food Bank weighs everything that comes in and out of the warehouse, so once your food drive is over, we will weigh all of your filled barrels and let you know how much food you contributed.
Contact
Michael O'Brien, Operations Director
(812)-303-3575