Pitching In To Fight Hunger

Why Hold a Food Drive?

Increasingly the face of hunger is that of someone you know. Factors such as skyrocketing housing, fuel and medical costs have contributed to a situation where over 450,000 people live in poverty in the area served by Food Bank of the Rockies (FBR); 47% of them are children. These people struggle to meet their basic food needs. Despite these discouraging facts, there is hope because of YOU and everyone who helps us fight hunger by organizing a food drive.

Getting Organized

Decide: Virtual or Real Food Drive?

FBR appreciates all donations, and it really is up to you whether you wish to collect food items, collect dollars for FBR to purchase food items, or a combination of the two.  Whatever you choose, you will need to do the next two steps. 

Choose a Date: Hunger knows no season and FBR always needs food. Most food drives occur in the fall because of the back-to-back holidays, but any time is a great time to help your community.

Contact Food Bank of the Rockies: To set up your food drive, please fill out our website food drive form. This form gives us all of the information we need to work with you on your food drive. After you complete the form, our food drive coordinator will contact you within five business days to confirm the details. Please know that sometimes due to the volume of food drives, we may ask you to shift dates slightly or be flexible on barrel pick up and delivery. Thank you for helping us Fight Hunger and Feed Hope!

Publicity: Publicize your food drive at least two weeks in advance. Posters and flyers should list the dates of the drive, what types of food should be donated and that the food will go to FBR. We will be happy to provide you with any information you may need.

Posters should be displayed in well-traveled areas of your building. You can enter your logo/company name using the attached word doc flyer or PDF flyer. Lobbies, cafeterias, break areas and mailrooms are a few good places to start. Notices can also be placed in employee mailboxes and pay envelopes. Don't forget your company e-mail!

Incentives/Competitions: A great way to motivate people to donate is to conduct competitions between departments. Offering an incentive such as lunch or a half-day off adds to the participation and the fun.

Types of Food to Collect

Here are a few types of canned and dry goods that make nutritious donations: Tuna, canned chicken, soups, vegetables, fruit, pasta, rice, instant potatoes, peanut butter, and condiments.

Non-glass containers are preferred. Glass jars and bottles tend to break and spill their contents onto the other items in the collection barrel.

How to Collect the Food

The Food Bank of the Rockies will be happy to provide you with collection barrels that you can use for your food drive. Quantities are limited, so please contact us as early as you can using the online form. Also, the sturdiness, uniform size and stackability of copier paper boxes make them great food receptacles. If you have arranged for a pick-up by a Food Bank of the Rockies driver, please be sure that all of the food containers are consolidated and placed in an accessible location.  During high volume food drive season, we appreciate your patience and flexibility with barrel deliveries and food pick-up times.

It's Your Food Drive

We're very glad that you've chosen to make the Food Bank of the Rockies a part of your food drive team. We're delighted to be able to help you in whatever way we can. Keep in mind that you can help us to best use our limited resources by assisting our drivers, placing the food containers in an accessible location and by dropping the food off to us if possible.

Where to Take the Food

Once your food drive is complete you can deliver your food to us at 10700 E. 45th Avenue, Denver, CO 80239. 

We're located one block north and one block east of I-70 and Havana, just east of the old Stapleton Airport. Please see the map below.

Have a few items?

If you have a few bags, please park in the visitor parking on the south side of our building and drop them off inside our lobby. 

Have a whole bunch of food?
If you've collected a large amount of donations, park near dock door 1 and come inside to the agency window.  Let us know you're here with a food drive delivery and we'll help you unload your donations.

If you're not able to deliver the food, please call Craig McCarthy at 303-371-9250 ext. 214 or by email at cmccarthy@foodbankrockies.org and we'll do our best to arrange a pick-up from your location.  Please be patient and flexible during our busy season.

Financial Contributions

It's great to encourage individuals to make a financial contribution in lieu of food items.  If donating by check, they should be made out to "Food Bank of the Rockies." To track pounds for each dollar donated, you can use this formula: $1 = 5 pounds of food.  If you wish to donate by credit card, visit our Virtual Food Drive web page.

Thank You!

The Food Bank of The Rockies serves hundreds of programs that help the less fortunate in our area: low-income seniors, children, victims of domestic violence, the homeless. anyone who is in need of help.  Food drives, like the one you want to conduct, are a valuable asset to us in our fight against hunger.

So Thank You! Remember that by working together we can make a difference.

To drop off donated food in van, pickup or car, please pull up to one of the six garage doors in the northern most parking lot, on the 45th Street side of the building. Please call 303-371-9250 to make prior arrangements if you have a truck that requires a loading dock.  For all other reasons please refer to the signs along the east and south parking lots and use the designated entrances.