Family Food Drive
- Category: Family Capers - Service Projects
- Published Date
- Written by Bryan
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With the ongoing economic crisis, there are more families every day who live below the poverty level. This means that there are families who need real help. I remember when I was a child that we would often raise money for starving children around the world. Now that I am much older I can plainly see a great need right around my own community. Even though my family lives in a college town that is part of a fairly wealthy region, we only need to drive ten minutes to find families that do not have enough food to feed their children. The actual statistics of how many people in America alone cannot afford healthy food for their family is surprisingly high. This extends to every other developed country around the world.
Having a family food drive is a way to help alleviate this problem on a community level while building awareness of the greater need. As with most service projects, a family could simply say that they cannot make a real impact through their small effort. However, this would be a completely bogus response. Every effort adds up and the impact is not always measured in the quantity obtained, but rather in the lives that are touched. There are the obvious recipients who benefit but there are also less obvious winners such as the children who will be inspired to give more along with other families that see these acts of charity and begin their own good works.
This family service project can be performed by any family regardless of age or ability. There is no limit to the variations of this project. It could simply be gathering a few extra bags of food next time at the grocery store or it could be a community-wide event involving several other families. Regardless of the scope of your family service project, here are some basic steps that will help any family get started.
Find the local need
If you are not sure where you can donate food in your local area, there are several resources you can check. Call your local town clerk, churches, crisis centers, or homeless shelters. There are several food bank registries online such as: feedingamerica.org or foodpantries.org.Put it on the family calendar
Set a date to start gathering food and when it will finally be donated. Try to keep the dates fairly close. Any date is excellent for having a food drive. Do not wait for the holidays in order to have a food drive. People are hungry all year round.Set a goal
Goals help keep us motivated and on track. They also make it easier to promote your food drive. People tend to do more when they think they are helping to achieve a specific target. Set the goal in either the number items or the total weight.Include everyone in the family
Even the smallest family members can volunteer for this family service project. Let the little ones help sort and organize. Let the older children interact with extended family, neighbors and friends to gather food items and even recruit some help. Parents should develop relationships with local authorities and organizations.Get local media involved
By promoting a food drive with the media, it may seem like a family is just looking for glory but in actuality the media can help significantly increase the amount of food gathered though increased awareness.
