Local food pantries are always in need of nutritious food for your neighbors in need. Here is a list of the most-needed food items. For a more specific list, contact the pantry near you.
MOST NEEDED PANTRY ITEMS:
CANNED MEAT
POWDERED MILK OR PARMALAT
100% FRUIT JUICE
COLD AND HOT CEREALS
MACARONI AND CHEESE
BAKED BEANS OR PORK & BEANS
CANNED BEEF STEW
CANNED PASTA IN SAUCE
PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY
CANNED FRUIT
PLAIN RICE
CANNED OR INSTANT POTATOES
BISQUICK/PANCAKE MIX AND SYRUP
COFFEE AND TEA
CLEANING SUPPLIES
LARGE SIZE DISPOSABLE DIAPERS (UNISEX)
TOILETRIES AND PAPER GOODS
Food Drive Projects
Many schools, Scout troops, clubs, houses of worship and families want to participate a food drive. Here are some ideas.
FOOD DRIVE PROJECTS
K – 2nd grade
Kindergarteners through second graders can have a general, non-threatening discussion about the
importance of everyone, especially kids, having enough to eat. A note should go home to parents with a
list of suggested non-perishable food items. Each child will bring a food item on a specific date. (They
will find it very interesting to see the different items each have brought.) Praise for being donors and
helping others should be lavish.
3rd – 5th grade
There are a number of kinds of food collections that are suitable for these age groups. A troop or class
can choose a specific kind of food, for example, peanut butter and jelly, boxed pasta and sauce or baby
food, and collect these foods over a set period of days or weeks. Discussions can be more direct –
“Why would a family need food?” “How does not having enough food affect kids’ learning and behavior?”
Teachers or troop leaders can stress nutrition as well as community needs and the importance of “giving
back” .
Birthday Bags
The clients who come to food pantries often cannot do anything special to celebrate their children’s
birthdays. It helps to have some “Birthday Bags” at the food pantry to give to parents whose child has a
special occasion. Each bag contains: cake mix, frosting or frosting mix, candles and juice boxes. They
can also have candies, cookies, streamers, decorative paper plates and napkins and balloons.
Middle School
School-wide food drives
Students should start with the principal to get permission to conduct a school-wide food drive. They
should be prepared with a tentative date, the length of time the drive will cover, means of collection and
how the food will be picked up.
Contact the food pantry that will benefit from the drive. Find out if they will pick up the food or if it will
need to be brought. Find out what their most pressing food needs are and if they have any literature that
can be distributed.
Collection points can either be in each classroom or at a few central spots in the school. Large laundry
baskets, clean garbage cans or cardboard boxes can be used. Flyers and signs should have
information clearly stated, for example:
FOOD DRIVE
To benefit the Center for Food Action
January 15 – January 22
MOST NEEDED FOOD ITEMS:
Tuna fish
Canned fruit
Canned pasta
Cereal
Boxed pasta
Dried milk
Pasta sauce
Peanut butter
Canned vegetables
Jelly
All students should get a flyer to take home; signs should be put on collection boxes and throughout
the school.
If the drive is to be over several weeks, it may be necessary to collect the food as the boxes get full .
Keep track of how many boxes have been filled. Take a picture of the full boxes. (Call your local paper to
see if they would be interested in publicizing your efforts.)
If possible, the students who have organized the food drive should help deliver the food to the food
pantry. Let them know you are coming!
When the food drive is over, make sure to thank everyone (parents, teachers, principal, students) who
helped.
Neighborhood Food Drive
Contact the food pantry that will benefit from the food drive. Find out what their most pressing food
needs are.
Create a flyer, for example:
Dear Neighbor,
Our Girl Scout Troop #444 is conducting a food drive to help the Center for Food Action. If you want to
participate please put as many of the following food items as you want in this bag:
Tuna fish
Canned fruit
Canned pasta
Cereal
Boxed pasta
Dried milk
Pasta sauce
Peanut butter
Canned vegetables
Jelly
Please leave the bag outside your front door on Saturday, January 11 and we will pick it up and deliver it
to the Center for Food Action.
Thank you for helping us to help our hungry neighbors!
Ask the local supermarket for paper bags. Make copies of your flyer and staple it to the front of the
bag.
Leave the bags at the front doors of your neighborhoods.
Have lots of parents ready for pick-up day.
Make arrangements with the food pantry to deliver the bags. (Many food pantries are not open on the
weekends; make sure a parent can keep the bags in a garage or basement until it can be delivered.)
High School Students
High school students can organize the school-wide or neighborhood food drives that are described
above. For a committed group of high school students, a town-wide food drive is a rewarding project. It
can be run as a neighborhood food drive with committees organizing groups of students to help print
flyers, staple them to bags, pick up food, etc. A town-wide drive needs many workers; often, younger
students and Scouts will be willing to help. Make sure the town’s local papers, Mayor and council,
schools and police and fire departments know about the drive. (This has been used as an Eagle Scout
project.)
