Help us stock our shelves!
Thousands of residents, schools, churches, and businesses generously donate food to the Harvest Hope each year through a variety of corporate, civic, and holiday food drives.
What is a Food Drive?
A food drive is a concentrated effort to collect non-perishable food in a certain time period. You and/or your organization will work with Harvest Hope Food Bank in coordinating your organization’s food drive.
Traditional vs. Virtual
A traditional food drive is when you visit a grocery store and purchase non-perishable food items to deliver to Harvest Hope. A virtual food drive is a fast, online way to make the same impact without leaving home or the office.
Containers
Harvest Hope can provide food drive boxes to be borrowed for your food drive. Each box will hold between 100 and 150 cans of food. If you will need boxes, please notify Harvest Hope at the beginning of your food drive. You are free to decorate these boxes as needed. Food drive hosts are encouraged to use their own boxes if available.
Transportation of Food
Food drive hosts are encouraged to deliver their donations to their local Harvest Hope branch. Donations are accepted anytime Monday-Thursday, 8 AM to 3 PM and Friday, 8 AM to 1 PM. If the amount of donations is too great to be transported by car, please contact us for a pick-up (please allow a minimum 48-hour notice). During our peak seasons (Thanksgiving / Christmas) we encourage a 1-week notice, to ensure a pickup slot is reserved.
Questions
Scroll below to sign up today! For additional questions, please email our Food Drive Coordinator.
Traditional Food Drives
Ready to get started?
Let us know about your food drive by filling out a quick form! Thank you for helping to feed the hungry in our community.
Want to Still Help From Home?
Host a virtual food drive! You raise the funds, we do the shopping.
FAQs
- How long do I have to run my food drive?
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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?
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Yes! This helps us out by saving resources, but we can provide boxes if needed.
- Are there any requirements for me to do a food drive?
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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?
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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?
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Absolutely! You are free to bring it to one of our three locations 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?
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Sadly, we are not open during the weekend. Please send an email to fooddrives@harvesthope.org 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 to receive donations from Harvest Hope for our own food pantry. What is needed to do so?
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This is called being a Partner Agency. Learn more about the benefits of becoming a partner agency.
Food Drive Tips
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.