Planning to conduct a food drive on behalf of Project SHARE? We can help to ensure your team has everything you need to make your event a success. We are excited about your interest in helping our members of our community. Our success and growth over the years can be directly attributed to individuals and groups like your own who volunteer their time and energy to help improve the lives of others. A little giving goes a long way. Thank you!

Please keep in mind that we are always here to help answer any questions that may arise and to brainstorm with you on some creative ways to ensure a very successful drive.

Please contact us if you decide you would like to conduct a food drive at 905-357-5121 ex.33 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

HOW TO GET STARTED

Organizing a food drive can be fun and exciting. The best way to ensure a smooth effort is to spend time planning the drive. The primary steps to include in your plan are:

1) Set dates

When setting the date, allow plenty of time to prepare and get the word out. Try to avoid any holidays or dates that other established events may occur.

2) Set a goal

Decide how much food you would like to collect during your food drive. How many potential contributors do you have? How much can you reasonably expect to collect from each donor? Will you collect food or cash / or both?

3) Develop a Collection System

Determine how and where food will be collected. You can use boxes, barrels or bins. Small to medium-size boxes work best for food drives. They aren't too heavy when full and can be decorated with festive wrap or Project SHARE downloadable posters. We encourage you to collect your own boxes for food drives. However, we may have food drive barrels available for you to use. Click here for the most needed foods.

4) Food Delivery

Once collected, one of the best ways you can helps us is by delivering the food to Project SHARE directly at 2-4129 Stanley Avenue, Niagara Falls, Ontario, L2E 7H3. Your extra effort to deliver the food helps the food bank be more efficient. Project SHARE operating hours are Monday to Friday, excluding holidays from 8:30am to 4:30pm.

PUBLICITY TIPS

The success of your drive will depend on how well you get the word out. Here are some tips to make it easier.

Come up with a fun slogan and theme for your drive. Some theme ideas include:

• Designate a company day to bring in food to Project SHARE
• Allow casual dress for a day if the individual brings food
• Hold an event/party where the cost of admission is 10 or more cans of food
• Hold a dinner party where admission is a bag of food
• Hold an intra-company competition and award a prize for the most food collected

NOTE: Project SHARE cannot solicit any media coverage for 3^rd party events.

Make sure to include the following information in your publicity materials:

• Theme of the Food Drive
• Dates of the drive
• Location of collection sites
• Types of food needed
• That it is on behalf of Project SHARE

Develop materials: These include flyers, posters, banners for lunchroom, articles for your newsletter, interoffice memos or emails, public service announcements and press releases.
Click here to download the “Most Needed Food Items Flyer” and feel free to print as many as you require!

SHOPPING LIST

Food items that are urgently needed by our member agencies and clients include:

• Canned soups & vegetables

• Peanut butter

• Canned tuna or salmon

• Canned or dry pasta

• Baby foods

• Pasta Sauce

Project SHARE can also use the follow products:

• Large size diapers

• Shampoo

• Toothpaste and toothbrushes

Click here for our most needed foods

MONETARY DONATIONS

If people would rather donate money instead of food, we can use those dollars to obtain four times more food than your contributors could have bought with equivalent dollars at the grocery store. Donors can simply make a cheque out to Project SHARE. (and money is so much easier to carry than heavy boxes!)

Thank you for thinking of Project SHARE!