Organizing A Food/Fund Drive For SHEM

Community Food and Fund Drives provide nutritious food and vital operating funds for SHEM while raising awareness of hunger issues in our community.

A tough economy and high unemployment have pushed demand for emergency food to record levels, making community support more important than ever. A huge thank you to the schools, businesses, faith-based groups and others who organize food and fund drives.

Your efforts make a big difference for the people who receive meals from emergency food boxes. Food drives provide some of the healthiest and highest-quality food SHEM receives. These donations provide a compassionate link between you, the donor, and those who are hungry in our community.

 

Getting Started with a Food Drive

Running a Food Drive is easy and fun. Follow these simple tips to make the process go smoothly.

  • Please let us know about your Food Drive with at least 3 weeks lead time to helps us plan for the extra help needed to receive the food drive donations.
  • Identify a reasonable goal based on how long you'll run the drive and how many people you expect to participate.
  • Decide how you will collect the donated food: depending on the size of your food drive, boxes work well for transporting to the food bank.
  • Decide how you are going to get the word out to the community. You can make your own posters and flyers and get the word out, contact local schools, businesses, media sources, such as newspapers and radio stations.
  • Use your creativity! Organize an OSU Beaver vs. U of O Duck competition... this is a very popular and competitive favorite in our community!
  • It is especially helpful if your group can PRE-SORT the food drive items as they are collected,  since our facility is very limited in space and storage.  This is a task that many younger group members enjoy doing, and can involve learning skills such as problem solving, sorting, grouping, counting and cooperative interpersonal skills building. You might set up a "Sorting Station" in a designated area, with signs on the wall indicating what food item is placed in each area.  Major categories might include Baking Goods (also sort into sub-categories like flour, sugar, cake mixes) and meat/fish/ (into tuna, canned chicken, SPAM) fruits (into applesauce, peaches, pears, fruit cocktail) and vegetables (into green beans, chili bean, corn) Soups, Chili & Stews, paper goods (toilet paper, paper towels, facial tissues) and soap or cleaning products, as well as a "Miscellaneous" box for items you are unsure about. If more clarification is needed, please contact the SHEM office at 541-367-6504
  • Deliver the donated items to SHEM and know that your efforts have provided hunger relief to a child, friend, neighbor or family here in Sweet Home. Thank you for your help in eradicating hunger in our community! All donations, whether financial or food items, stay here in Sweet Home to benefit our local families!

 

List of Needed Items that SHEM can use:

  • Coffee and Tea
  • Canned fruit and vegetables
  • Flour
  • Sugar
  • Beans (lentils, navy, black, pinto)
  • Rice
  • Peanut Butter
  • Vegetable Oil
  • Powdered or Evaporated Milk
  • Soup, Stews, Chili
  • Juice
  • Cereal
  • Oatmeal
  • Canned Meats (Tuna, Salmon, Chicken)
  • Toilet Paper
  • Paper Towels
  • Hand Soap
  • Dish and Laundry Soap
  • Shampoo
  • Toothpaste & toothbrush
  • Deodorant
  • Disposable Razors
  • Baby Wipes
  • Disposable Diapers

What NOT to Donate

To ensure client safety, we cannot use:

  • Rusty, dented, unlabeled, or ourdated cans
  • Homemade or home canned items
  • Alcoholic beverages or mixers
  • Opened and partially used items
  • Infant formula or baby food