Host a Food Drive
Food drives are a great way to involve your friends and family in the fight to end hunger. Whether you host a traditional food drive to collect canned goods or hold a virtual food drive to raise funds for the St. Mark's and St. John's Food Shelf, you can make a big difference!
Traditional Food Drives
Contact Us First
Before you organize a food drive, make sure you connect with a leader at St. Mark's and St. John's. We can then work together to determine wishlist items, the length of the food drive, and drop-off dates for collected food items. We can also help determine if a traditional food drive is the right option for you or if a virtual drive would make more sense for you and your fellow donors.
Plan a Time
Select dates to begin and end your food drive: Food drives can last however long you’d like but most food banks recommend running your drive for at least two weeks. Make sure to coordinate with us on your timing--certain times of the year are incredibly busy for our staff and volunteers and we want to make sure we have the time to assist you appropriately!
Follow our List
Collect the most wanted items only. Our food shelf has a limited amount of space and we want to use it as efficiently as possible! Our food shelf volunteers have compiled a wishlist based on what our recipients request and the space we have. Please stick to the items on our wishlist as we may not be able to use or store any additional donations. Please also be sure to pay attention to the container types and sizes requested! We do not accept glass containers and prefer to receive 1 lb. containers of most of our dry goods.
Schedule a Delivery
Work with a St. Mark's and St. John's leader to schedule a time to drop off collected items. Depending on the size of your drive, we may ask that you deliver the items all at once or we may request a few waves of delivery. Please do not drop off items before letting us know! We want to make sure that we have made space in our pantry and are ready for your delivery when it arrives
Virtual Food Drives
A virtual food drive is a great option if you cannot collect donations in person or are unable to deliver donations to the church Instead of collecting food, a virtual food drive allows you to collect funds online. We can typically purchase food from Foodlink at a much lower cost than at the grocery store and can therefore stretch dollars to have a greater impact! If you are interested in holding a virtual food drive for St. Mark's and St. John's, make sure to contact us! We can assist you in setting up an online campaign that is easy to use and share.