Holding a Food Drive for Heights Interfaith Ministries Food Pantry

We rely on support from the community and appreciate food donations from all sources. Food drives are a great way for groups of any size to support the pantry and are especially good for engaging young people in service activities. Our volunteer age minimum at the Pantry is age 16, so children are not able to volunteer with us on site. We do have an age minimum of 13 on Fridays if the volunteer is accompanied by an adult.

Drives of any type involve planning, collecting, sorting & bagging, and then bringing the items to the pantry & stocking our shelves. There is a lot of work for many hands during food drives. Due to our other activities, we usually arrange product drop-off on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Saturday afternoons.  If your group or family decides to host a drive, we could schedule a drop-off time and then provide an opportunity to stock our shelves and take a quick tour of our facility.

Drives can be for:

  • Dry-good/Nonperishable product for our grocery boxes
  • Size 3 or larger diapers
  • Dog and cat food

 

Overview – Food Drives

  • We distribute as much as 10,000 lbs. of food each week - this includes the following for each family:  a dry goods box, fresh produce, fresh eggs, frozen meat, fresh bread, fresh sweets / desserts, premade sandwiches & salads, toiletries, as well as various 'extras' for each family (snacks, extra bags of produce, frozen meals, etc....depending on our donations)
  • One drive delivered 4000 lbs. of canned goods, and non-perishable items - 2 tons! This donation of non-perishable items helped us serve up to 300 families.
  • Our dry goods boxes are what makes our pantry a 'food pantry' vs. an emergency food drop. These boxes contain a variety of kitchen staples (canned beans, meals, veggies, as well as pasta, rice, etc.), and are the core of what we provide.   


In order to serve a minimum of 160 families each week, we need, weekly: (cases of 12)

  • 54 cases of canned beans
  • 54 cases of meals in a can (tuna, chicken, chili, spaghettiOs, etc.)
  • 41 cases of canned veggies
  • 14 cases of peanut butter 
  • 27 cases of canned tomatoes (diced, sauce, spaghetti sauce)
  • 60 units of pasta
  • 160 units of 2 lbs rice
  • 160 units of 2 lbs dried beans

Holding a food drive entails:

  • Advertising the drive: Creating & distributing flyers around your neighborhood, attached to a paper grocery sack, OR emailing friends and family or posting on social media, with a drop off point.
  • Set a date to pick up the filled sack for the following week, or a deadline for drop off
  • Picking up or collecting the product
  • Date checkingeach product donated (this date is typically 6 months prior to expiration, but a specific acceptable expiration date can be provided by the Pantry).
  • Sort the product into bags or boxes by type- all peanut butter in a bag, all canned veggies in a bag, etc.
  • Arrange a day to drop off the product, stock our shelves & put product away

For more information or to schedule a time to drop off donations, email the Pantry at himpantry@gmail.com