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
- Organize a group or committee to lead and plan your effort.
- Select and contact a charity; be sure to inquire about the organization’s needs. If you need suggestions of organizations, contact us!
- Establish a schedule for your project, as well as a realistic goal.
- 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.
- Develop a list of the most-needed items as well as items you cannot accept.
- Offer participants an option to donate money.
- Display the food or other items being gathered for the event.
- Seek companies to match your efforts.
- Update participants on the event’s progress.
- Take photographs of your event and share them with RAH—we will post them on our site!
- Show appreciation to event participants and allow everyone to share in the success of the event.
- Report your results to RAH!
Get Creative: Ideas for Your Event
Food drives matter, but you may want to think beyond them 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. - Shopping, Recipe, and Nutrition Guides
Distribute 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 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. - 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 to coordinate the event and deliver the food. A gleaning can be a fun way for a club or department to build team spirit.