Food Drive Tips
Celebrate your success-deliver your food to Harvest Hope Food Bank and watch the pounds add up!
Plan Ahead
Select a representative to plan the strategy and theme. Determine your drive’s length and end date.
Contact Us
Contact Harvest Hope to notify us of your food drive.
Midlands Food Drives
Claire Windsor
(803) 254-4432 ext. 3503
midlandsfooddrives@harvesthope.org
Pee Dee Food Drives
Jennifer Muller
(843) 661-0826 ext. 2101
peedeefooddrives@harvesthope.org
Upstate Food Drives
Briana Hendrix
(864) 281-3995 ext. 3100
upstatefooddrives@harvesthope.org
Set a Goal
Set a goal using pounds or items per person, and multiply this by your total headcount to get your group’s goal.
Promote Your Drive
Two weeks before the drive, hang posters, pass out flyers, send interoffice emails, or use payroll stuffers to get the word out. Information should include the dates of your drive, where to bring the food, and what types of food are needed. Contact Harvest Hope Food Bank for any posters or printed materials.
Build Awareness and Visibility
Arrange for a Harvest Hope speaker to come to your organization, or ask us for information on hunger to use in your newsletter. Promote the food drive on your marquee or outside signage.
Make It Fun & Simple to Participate
Be creative and use existing resources! Any type of sturdy box will work (ex: copier paper box). Boxes can be decorated to encourage participation. Place collection containers in convenient, high-traffic areas of your building.
Create Fun Competitions
Create categories - most pounds per department, largest individual donation, specific types of food/items (peanut butter, water bottles, plastic bags). Use themed competitions - “Carolina vs. Clemson,” “First Floor vs. Second Floor,” or “Men vs. Women” to get people in the spirit. Consider matching your employees’ donations pound for pound. Think about rewarding participants with incentives: movie passes, gift certificates, parking spaces, free lunch, casual day, etc. Don’t forget to update employees on the progress of the drive.
Food Drive FAQ
How long do I have to run my food drive?
You are free to run your food drive for however long you would like. Two weeks, three days, a whole year, the choice is up to you.
Can I use my own boxes?
Yes! This helps us out by saving resources, but we do provide boxes if needed.
Are there any requirements for me to do a food drive?
No, anyone no matter how young or old can run a food drive. You can do something small as an individual, or something large as a group/team.
Are there any items that you won’t accept?
We cannot accept perishable items such as meat, and eggs from the public due to food safety reasons. We cannot accept clothing, furniture, or medicine either.
I ran a food drive, but I would like to drop off the donations myself. Is this possible?
Absolutely yes! You are free to bring it to one of our three branches anytime Monday – Friday from 9am – 3:00pm.
I work during the hours of drop off time, can I bring the donations by on the weekend?
Sadly, we are not open during the weekend. Please call (803) 254-4432 ext. 3100 or email Food Drive if that is the case. There might be a company hosting a public food drive or a partner agency in the area that will accept the donations during the weekend.
Our church/organization would like receive donations, from Harvest Hope for our own food pantry. What is needed to do so?
This falls under being a Partner Agency. Please call 803-254-4432 and advise that you would like information on being a Partner Agency. The operator will connect you to the correct contact person.