Planning Your Food Drive

Don’t forget to include the Bread Shed and SEMO Food Bank in your food drive planning. Contact us so we can help you advertise and provide marketing to help you succeed!

The Four P’s of a Successful Food Drive:

Plan – Select a leader or leadership committee to plan the food drive. Plan the dates, length of the food drive, goal, strategy, theme, sponsors, etc. Call the SEMO Food Bank office at 573-651-0400 to arrange for barrel delivery or pick up.

Promote – Get the word out! There are a number of ways to promote a food drive within your organization and publicly. Contact us to receive these items: flyers, e-mails, websites, newsletter articles, press releases, public service announcements, community calendars, advertisements, outdoor signs, payroll stuffers. Encourage financial contributions – for every dollar donated, the Southeast Missouri Food Bank can acquire twenty pounds of food!

Participation – Make it fun and simple for people to participate. Create fun competitions, such as the largest individual donation, most unusual food, most pounds per department, best structure built with food items, etc. Give incentives for participation, such as movie passes, gift certificates, promotional items, a day off work, a casual day, etc.

Party – Celebrate your success! Publicize the results of your food drive along with the Southeast Missouri Food Bank. Thank your sponsors, leaders and participants. Give prizes and awards. Have a party for everyone involved!