Food drives, bake sales, charity road races—all of these events, and plenty more, can be a way to increase awareness of hunger, raise money, and collect food.

12 Tips for Planning an Event

1. Organize a group or committee to lead and plan your effort.
2. Select and contact a charity; be sure to inquire about the organization's needs. If you need suggestions of organizations, contact rah@rutgers.edu.
3. Establish a schedule for your project, as well as a realistic goal.
4. Prepare promotional materials and market your event; encourage participation by listing current statistics about the reality of hunger in New Jersey and the urgent need for assistance.
5. Develop a list of the most-needed items, as well as items you cannot accept.
6. Offer participants an option to donate money.
7. Display the food or other items being gathered for the event.
8. Seek companies to match your efforts.
9. Update participants on the event’s progress.
10. Take photographs of your effort, and share them with Rutgers Against Hunger; we will post them at the RAH website.
11. Show appreciation to event participants and allow everyone to share in the success of the event.
12. Report your results to RAH, and we’ll express kudos for your effort at the RAH website.

If you would like help planning an event, please contact rah@rutgers.edu.

Get Creative: Ideas for Your Event!
Food drives matter, no doubt about that, but you may want to think beyond food drives in deciding how you can volunteer and contribute to efforts to alleviate hunger and help those in need. And if you're organizing a food drive, you can spark interest by choosing a specific theme or having groups or departments compete to collect the most food.

• Volunteer Day at a Food Bank: Choose a day, and encourage club or department members to volunteer at a food bank by restocking shelves, tutoring adults about nutrition, or providing other services.
• Brown Bag Day: Have everyone bring a bag lunch to work, then donate the money they would have spent on lunch.
• Special Skills: Does your club or department have special skills, from graphic design to information technology? Food banks and other community organizations are often looking for skilled individuals to help with everything from website maintenance to newsletter design.
• Gleaning: A "gleaning" involves gathering crops and produce at a farm after the harvest. Arrange a gleaning with a farm or an organization such as Farmers Against Hunger, which will coordinate the event and deliver the food. A gleaning can be a fun way for a club or department to build team spirit.
• Shopping, Recipe, and Nutrition Guides: Think about distributing guides from Rutgers' New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station to help families learn how to stretch their food dollars and make good nutritional choices.
• Competitions: Organize a competition between several groups or departments and compete to see which group can collect the most food or money to donate to a food bank or other charity.
• Themes: Select a theme and collect specific items to donate, such as breakfast items, baby products, or paper products.
• Other Ideas: Plan a chili cook-off, bake sale, silent auction, virtual food drive, or an "other necessities" drive for items such as toiletries and baby products.

If you're seeking help deciding how you can provide services to help feed the hungry or assist community organizations, please contact Rutgers Against Hunger at rah@rutgers.edu.


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