Is your club, campus organization, or faculty department interested in hosting a food drive for the Seawolves Pantry? Claim a given week of the year to run your food drive through our Adopt-A-Week program!
A common struggle that food banks and pantries across the nation experience is the ebb-and-flow of donations throughout the year. Charitable giving tends to increase during holiday months, resulting in an influx of food drives within the span of a few months; meanwhile, other months may have zero food drives. But with the Adopt-A-Week initiative, we strategically coordinate drives across campus to help us sustain year-long community and inventory support efforts. Through this program, we are able to schedule and plan for food drives more consistently each month, providing us a more stable stream of donations during the entire academic year.
Why host a food drive? Food drives can be a great way to build a community. Think of the many occasions in which you might want to run a food drive:
- In honor of a holiday, celebration, or other special occasion
- As a professional development or team bonding opportunity
- To promote or advertise your organization or business
By hosting a food drive, you will be directly contributing to the success of our pantry in serving our guests in need. But a food drive is also an opportunity to...
- Further your organization's mission and vision
- Create new collaborations with partnering organizations
- Foster a sense of self-efficacy and empowerment within your team
Ready to begin? ADOPT YOUR WEEK NOW
Learn More
Please submit this form at least 3 business days prior to the start date of the food drive you want to host so we can best support you and your efforts.
After you have expressed interest via form submission, we will reach out to confirm the details of your food drive and any questions we may have. If submitting your form in advance, we will check in before the start of your food drive to make sure that everything is in place.
As you plan your food drive, we encourage you to explore the resources provided on this webpage. We will provide you with additional resources upon confirming your food drive registration.
Through the years, we have come across some best practices to ensure a successful drive for both your organization and our pantry. We recommend the following advice during your food drive:
- Have donation drop-off locations that are clearly marked, accessible, and experience
heavy foot traffic.
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- Note: The Seawolves Pantry will provide donation bins if needed.
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- Check all items before bringing them to the pantry to make sure they are unopened, unused, and not spoiling.
- Be sure to promote your food drive across whatever platforms your organization uses, whether it be email list, website, or social media.
- Once the drive has concluded, bring the donations to the pantry as soon as you are able in order to ensure that all items are still suitable to be donated.
- If you would like to host a food drive in honor of an upcoming event or holiday, please
make sure you schedule your Adopt-A-Week to conclude at least 2 weeks in advance, especially if you are anticipating a large amount of donated goods. This
gives our staff and volunteers enough time to process the donation so that the items
are available to guests in time for the occasion.
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- For example, a food drive held in honor of Thanksgiving will do best to benefit our guests if it concludes by the second week of November. Items donated any later than that may not make it to our shelves until after the holiday.
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Overall, have fun with it! Thank you for donating to our pantry and supporting your fellow Seawolves!
Look through our promotional toolkit to find flyers and other print-outs that can be used to spread the word before and during your food drive. Post them at your event or hang them up around your organization space to spread the word!
If you have any questions about hosting a food drive, please email SBUFoodPantry@stonybrook.edu.