HOST A HOLIDAY FOOD DRIVE FOR THE ORANGEVALE-FAIR OAKS FOOD BANK
The holiday season is upon us, and there’s no better or more urgent time to help your neighbor in need. This year has been especially tough for families with high food, gas and utility costs, and now it’s the holiday season where they not only need help with groceries but with something extra for their children. Families can feel very stressed this time of year, trying to provide holiday feasts and gifts for their families.
That’s where the Orangevale-Fair Oaks community comes in. We have a generous, giving heart. We help out when it’s needed the most. And the OVFO food bank has all the tools you need to host a holiday food drive.
There are many ways to host a food drive, and it can be big or small. It can be as large as getting your local church, school or workplace to request donations, or you can ask neighbors to donate some goods or ask your friends gathering at a holiday party to bring an item. Every bit helps, from jars of peanut butter to pasta and sauce, so don’t feel overwhelmed that you have to do a big drive or make a major food donation. The Orangevale-Fair Oaks spirit is about the community coming together and flourishing, one step at a time. You can help feed our neighbors in need on your own time and at your own pace.
Over the last six months the food bank has seen a 30 percent increase in need, adding 5-10 new families each day, which is a huge increase! Marcus Arnold owns an IT company and is a member of Divine Savior Church. He said the food bank is seeing 17 new families sign up each day! He started a food drive at Divine Savior five years ago during COVID. What started as a small church drive has grown into a major donation for our community each year with 17,000 pounds of food and $5,000 in donations for the food bank.
“What moves me is just the people in the community were, without any reservations, very helpful. The residents here in Fair Oaks and Orangevale, the commitment to the community, the responsibility, respect for the community, turned into quick collaboration. I didn't get too much resistance when it came to, ‘Hey, would you be interested in collecting food? Would you be interested in donating?’” Arnold said.
Let’s get started. Individuals, groups, businesses, schools, neighborhoods, your book club or pickleball team can all jump in and help. You decide when and where you want to start your drive and pick a drop-off location which can be a public place, your home, or maybe you want to collect the items on your own.
Once you start your drive, promote it on social media, in a newsletter or through email. Door-to-door flyers still work as well. Set a start and end date, and send out reminders throughout the campaign with suggestions about what to donate. Have fun with it and encourage others to participate.
“My life is my company, work and family, but I never imagined it would be this big - and I've told my church this in many groups - you have to experience it to really know how wonderful it is. You’ve got to see it with your own eyes and go through with the schools and the kids, and it makes it all much more worth it every time you do it.” Arnold says.
These are the most current needs of the food bank:
- Cereal/Oatmeal
- Peanut Butter
- Pasta Sauce
- Dry Pasta & Rice
- Ramen and Instant Noodles
- Canned fruits and vegetables
- Canned chili, SpaghettiOs, ravioli, soup
- Any non-perishable food
- Fresh produce from your garden and trees
Some groups have done clever things, like building a Christmas tree from the cans collected. Others make a colorful holiday-themed bin for the donations to be dropped into. Maybe have a Santa holding a sack for deliveries. It’s all for a good cause!
You can print flyers from the Orangevale-Fair Oaks Food Bank website and attach it to grocery bags that you deliver to neighbors. Or have your friends provide their own bags and tell them the date for dropoff or pick up. Check out more details and get the Food Bank Flyer here: www.ovfofb.org/host-a-food-drive
There are lots of ways to make your food drive fun. You can make it a competition between groups and teams, or you can compete to see who gets their donated items in first. Involve children. They can help sort the donated items by putting similar products together, and doing math quizzes by counting the cans to see how much your group donated.
If you have a large group, we have a few donation bins we can lend, or some good-sized deep banana boxes. A truck may be available to pick up large donations (pallet sized).
The food bank is open for donation drop offs Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Wednesday 4-6 p.m.
Thank you for supporting the Orangevale-Fair Oaks Food Bank this holiday season! Every donation makes a difference!
By Judy Farah
Comments