Host a Food Drive

How To Help

At NourishNC we work with over 55 schools in the Wilmington area providing food to children who struggle with hunger over weekends nd school breaks. That being said, we go through a lot of food! Food drives are a critical component in our ability to fulfill our mission. If you are interested in donating food to NourishNC, you can host a food drive in your business, neighborhood, or community networks, and drop off the collected items at our Warehouse. You can collect items from the Wish List, or focus specifically on 1-5 items. We find that goal-oriented, fun, and culturally relevant food drives are the most successful! Get creative! Below are items that we can’t seem to get enough of:

For more details, call the NourishNC offices (910) 465-0995 or email Programs@nourishnc.org. To schedule a drop off of donations, please email warehouse@nourishnc.org.

Tips and Tricks for Successful Food Drives

1) What Do Our Kids Need? See our “Most Wanted” list and ask people to donate these specific items. Quality over quantity is important; we would rather have a smaller food drive that has exactly what we need, than a large food drive with items we cannot use. All items are inspected, sorted, and then donated if they do not fit our needs.

2) Make Plans to Deliver It: By making plans to drop off your collected items, you are freeing up time for us to work on other mission critical things. To schedule the drop off of your collected items, please email Warehouse@NourishNC.org. Our warehouse is located at 3606 Market Street.

3) Avoid Donating Expired Food: Many expired foods are safe for years after the code out date. However, NourishNC does not serve expired food to our kids. Often when people hear “food drive” the first thing they do is grab that can of beans that has been sitting in the back of their cupboard for years. Let’s help serve the NourishNC kids the best.

4) No Junk Food Please: NourishNC does not serve chips, candy, cookies or other unhealthy foods to our kids.

5) What Will You Collect It In: Use small to medium size boxes for heavy items like canned goods. It’s ok to collect items in bags just make sure not to overload them and tie them if they are plastic. This is also why we ask that you please not collect items in glass jars.

6) Be Careful with Incentives or Discounts: When people are hosting events, they often offer discounted admission in exchange for donated canned goods at the door. More times than not, the cash value of the discount was significantly higher than the value of the canned goods-especially when expired and erroneous foods are removed. In some cases, it makes more sense to donate the cash.

7) Fun, Competitive, and Themed Food Drives Work Best: Food drives do well when they are fun, relevant, and competitive.  Try themed days centered around our most wanted list (like “Macaroni Monday” or “Tuna Tuesday”) or around your business/business model like stacking cans higher than your building. Competitions between participants with prizes and awards work great too. Not all awards have to cost money. Consider things like making the boss work from a tent for a day or casual day for employees. 

8) Host a Food Drive in January or June: NourishNC feeds children all year-round but the majority of food drives tend to be during the holidays (November & December) or when the school year begins (August & September). We would love to see high volume food drives all year!

Thank you so much for helping NourishNC provide nutritious food to hungry children!