CBI Health Group Staff Discussion Sessions Food Bank Fundraising!

2 Food Bank Fundraising We all know that May is the month most clinics devote to Food Bank fundraising, but does anyone here know how this started?  Idea originated in 2004 during celebration of the 30th anniversary of company’s origins (May 1974)  Suggestion raised that we should do something different for 30 days in May, to symbolize the 30 years  With the desire to give back to the community, Food Banks across Canada were chosen as the charitable cause to support, because of the hundreds and thousands of individuals and families who rely on them  Both CBI and the Food Banks aim to improve health and wellness in Canadian communities

3 Food Bank Fundraising  Originally intended to be a one-off event in 2004, clinics and facilities throughout the country came up with creative ways to raise food and money for their local Food Bank  Bake sales, golf tournaments, silent auctions, bag drop offs/ pick ups, and many other fundraising activities were organized  $27,000 and 26,000 lbs of food were raised and collected in 2004, with prizes for locations that had raised the most money and food, per capita  When the month ended, staff across the country were vocal in their recommendation that this turn into an annual event, and so it did!

4 Food Bank Fundraising  New traditions continue to develop, including the Hustle for Hunger, a run/walk event that started locally in 2008 and has now been adopted by clinics across the country. Every year, total money and food collected continues to outnumber the previous year’s numbers, as our network grows and new fundraising activities are born.  Following the 2011 fundraising campaign, the eight-year cumulative totals are 437,245 pounds of food, and $860,389!

5 Food Bank Fundraising Action Plan  What Food Bank fundraising traditions here at our clinic do we want to continue?  What new traditions do we think would be worthwhile, such as Hustle for Hunger? (See following slide for ideas)  Is there a role for everyone interested in participating, so that it doesn’t all fall on the same person? Who wants to do what?

6 Food Bank Fundraising Fundraising ideas  Raffle / silent auction  A steak night  Bake sale  Casual Fridays  Bottle drive  Popcorn sale  50/50 draw  Donation jar  Theme day  Guess the number of candies in a jar  Host a “can-construction” contest  Encourage staff and clients to engage in “spring cleaning” and donate household items they no longer use

7 Food Bank Fundraising Other ideas  Incentives for staff who raise the most money  Donating our time at the local food bank  Challenging another CBI clinic  Each week concentrate on one family member: (i.e. Week 1 – babies, Week 2 – children, etc.)  Have a student week – they are the fastest growing segment of food bank users  Each week concentrate on a particular type of food: (i.e. Week 1 – Italian, Week 2 – Mexican, etc.)  Making use of any local team affiliations (i.e. utilizing the triple AAAs hockey team to help)  Print grocery lists of the most needed items. Each staff to bring in one item for each entry on the most needed list. Informing the community:  Advertising through the radio and newspaper  Press releases

8 Food Bank Fundraising Final considerations Some regions within the CBI network have put together material used by Team Captains during the Food Drive period. These include schedules of the different activities and events over a 30 day period that can be printed and posted in our clinic. There are also templates for updates that can be posted each week indicating how much food/money we’ve collected thus far, and what the theme of the week is. Would using these templates be something we want to adopt?