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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 using our online registration form. 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 everyday of the year. While our biggest food drive event takes 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 FOOD Share has no restrictions on how long or short your food drive lasts.
What does FOOD Share provide for my Food Drive?FOOD Share provides yellow or black barrels that have the Tackling Hunger logo displayed. We encourage you to pick up barrels at our FOOD Share office at 4156 Southbank Road in Oxnard. Special arrangements can be made for larger food drives for barrel drop off and pick up.
How much time before my food drive do I need to contact you?
FOOD Share requests that you give three or more days notice before your food drive. Our drivers have a regular scheduled route and do barrel delivered 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 FOOD Share anytime Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. at our office on 4156 Southbank Road, Oxnard, CA 93036
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 are the most needed items? FOOD Share always needs a variety of nonperishable goods. These include canned fruits and vegetables, beans, canned meats, dry pasta, and grains.
Can I make my food drive a competition? Yes! We encourage people to set goals and create internal competitions. Fueling people’s competitive spirit generates a lot of participation, and makes the food drive fun. You can set a goal, say, of 200 lbs and see which team reaches that goal first. (1 average can = 1 pound of food.) Reward top teams with prizes or rewards.
Can I create a theme for my food drive? Yes, themes are another way to make your food drive more fun and exciting. We encourage you to get create and encourage people to donate!
How do I get more involved? Getting involved and encouraging others to get involved starts with awareness. Once people understand our mission and why FOOD Share exists, they are usually more willing to donate food or monetary donations. Become an advocate for FOOD Share and help us build awareness in your community by distributing the hunger facts, linking people to our website and Facebook, and spreading the word about hunger in Ventura County. 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, FOOD Share can purchase over $7.15 worth of nutritious food for our friends in need.
Will you tell us how much food we donated?Yes. FOOD Share 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
Karen Jensen
Event and Food Drive Coordinator
kjensen@foodshare.com
805-983-7100 x135
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