A community food drive is one of the easiest ways for a workplace, school, faith community, neighbourhood or community group to help people experiencing food insecurity. If you are collecting for Durham Alliance Outreach, a little planning can make your drive much more useful for DAO Market and the people who shop with us.
How to host a food drive for DAO Market
DAO Market is Durham Region’s only 2SLGBTQIA+ food bank and works in partnership with Feed the Need in Durham. Our choice-based model gives community members greater ability to select food that works for their household, dietary needs and preferences. A well-planned food drive helps us keep that choice available.
1. Contact us before you start
If you are planning a larger drive, workplace campaign or public collection, contact DAO before launching it. Our needs change throughout the year, and checking with us first means we can tell you which items are most useful right now and coordinate receiving larger donations.
Email pantry@durhamallianceoutreach.org or call 905-738-8133 ext. 0556.
2. Choose a clear goal
A focused drive is often easier to promote than simply asking for “food.” You might collect a specific high-need category, fill a set number of boxes, challenge departments or teams to participate, or run a collection alongside an event.
Keep the goal achievable and make it clear that every contribution helps.
3. Focus on items DAO Market can use
Some of the items frequently needed at DAO Market include:
- Canned tuna and other canned proteins
- Peanut butter
- Pasta sauce
- Canned fruit and vegetables
- Soup
- Ramen and other quick meals
- Macaroni and cheese and meal kits
- Cereal and pancake mix
- Granola bars and school snacks
- Baby wipes
- Diapers, especially sizes 4, 5 and 6
Because inventory and demand change, check the DAO Market page or contact us before a large campaign for the most current priorities.
4. Set your dates and collection locations
Choose a start and end date and make collection points easy to find. Clearly labelled bins can work well in offices, schools, businesses, community centres, places of worship and event spaces.
If several locations are participating, designate someone to check bins regularly and move donations to a central location.
5. Tell people exactly what you are collecting
Your promotional materials should include the dates, drop-off locations, the items most needed and who the drive supports. Sharing a short explanation of DAO Market can also help participants understand the impact of their donation.
Social media, workplace newsletters, posters, email lists and community groups can all help spread the word.
6. Keep donations safe and usable
Please check donations before delivering them. We may be unable to distribute items that are opened, damaged, compromised, unsafe because of their condition or date, or homemade or home-canned products that cannot be safely distributed.
Keeping unusable products out of collection bins saves volunteers time and disposal costs.
7. Coordinate delivery with DAO
For a small collection, contact us if you need guidance about drop-off. For a large food drive, please arrange delivery with DAO in advance so we can make sure volunteers and space are available to receive it.
There is no need to completely sort a large donation unless you have coordinated that with us first. What helps most is making sure items are safe, intact and grouped in a way that makes transportation manageable.
8. Celebrate the impact respectfully
Thank the people who donated, volunteered, hosted collection bins or helped promote the drive. Sharing your results can encourage others to participate in future campaigns.
When talking about food insecurity, focus on community, dignity and access rather than stereotypes about who uses food banks. People seek food support for many reasons, and respectful storytelling matters.
Want to organize a DAO Market food drive?
We would be happy to work with businesses, schools, community organizations and groups interested in supporting DAO Market.
DAO Market
Durham Alliance Outreach
717 Wilson Road South, Oshawa, Ontario
pantry@durhamallianceoutreach.org
905-738-8133 ext. 0556
You can also support our work through a financial donation. Financial contributions give DAO flexibility to respond to changing needs and purchase items that are in short supply.
