What Happens with Traditional Food Drives? 

• When food is collected, donors either go shopping and pay full price for food or they clean out their pantries. 
• They must take the food to the collection location. 
• Food is stored during the drive and then delivered to our warehouse or picked up by our drivers. 
• Every item must be inspected, sorted, cleaned if needed and re-boxed for distribution. 
• Sometimes jars break and cans get dangerously dented, so some food ends up getting thrown away. 
• Some donated items are too old or unsafe to distribute. 
• Sometimes our barrels are mistaken for trash can and we have to make sure any trash is discarded and items that come in contact with it are cleaned or thrown away. 

Why is Money Better? 

• We can distribute 5 pounds of food (5 meals) for every dollar we receive!
• Food come in or we pick up by the truckload from grocers, manufacturers, wholesalers, farmers, and ranchers. 
• Most of it is ready to distribute and requires less handling. 
• We can also distribute fresh produce and perishable frozen and refrigerated foods. 
• No donation is too small! Even a quarter can provide a meal to someone in need. 
• 94 cents of every dollar we receive goes to our food distribution program. 
• We have held a 4-start (highest) rating from Charity Navigator. We will use your donations wisely.