Food Drive Toolkit 

There are many ways to support Hawai‘i Foodbank. The important thing is to find one or a combination that makes it easy for your supporters to donate.

• Physical food drives – collect non-perishable food items in person.
• Virtual food drive – online food drive where donors can “shop” and select food they want to donate. Virtual Food Drives pages can be customized with a logo, photos and a personalized message. Pages can then easily be shared with co-workers, family and friends.
• Promotional campaign – donate a portion of your sales to Hawaiʻi Foodbank.

It’s easy! Click here to register now.

Once your registration is approved, you will receive an email with any requested support materials. If you are hosting a virtual food drive, you will receive an additional email containing instructions on how to set up your virtual food drive page. You will also receive a unique text-to-give code and URL, so that you can track your progress online. If you have any questions, contact fooddrive@hawaiifoodbank.org.

Most campaigns last about a month to allow time to promote the drive and time for your friends, family and co-workers to participate.

Personalizing your campaign is the best way to connect your co-workers, family and friends to your fundraiser. Set a narrative and inspire. Why are you getting involved? Why does Hawai‘i Foodbank mission matter to you? Explain why food access is so important or share your personal story to inspire participation.

Check out our Food and Fund Drive Guide for inspiration!

Because of the increased need due to COVID-19, we have significantly ramped up our food distribution, and, as a result, we have rerouted our resources to our food distributions – including our mahalo boxes. We recommend reusing boxes used for copy machine paper. They are about the same size and do not get too heavy when full. Plus, it’s great for the environment! Amazon boxes work great, too.

For the foreseeable future, we have suspended the traditional manner in which we have operated food drives in the past. Specifically, we are currently not scheduling drivers to pick-up food donations unless the amount of food is larger than a pallet. For special consideration, please contact fooddrive@hawaiifoodbank.org.

We appreciate your support and flexibility as we navigate these challenging times.

Our most needed items are:

• Canned protein such as tuna or chicken
• Prepared canned meals such as soup and pasta
• Canned fruit
• Canned vegetables
• Rice in two to five pound bags (Many of our clients take public transportation and cannot carry large bags of rice.)

Download a flyer of our most needed food items.

Hawai‘i Foodbank accepts bulk donations from retailers, manufacturers and growers. If you are a retailer or farmer or have questions regarding individual donations of perishable food, please contact our Teri Luna, director of product resourcing, at teri@hawaiifoodbank.org or 808-954-7860.

Only donate items that you would eat.

Avoid perishable items like dairy, meat, chicken, fish, and fresh fruits and vegetables.

We can only accept unopened items. We can accept opened packages if the internal packaging is still intact.

We are not able to accept food without a nutrition label.

We can accept baby food and formula as long as they adhere to the above guidelines and are not expired.

We can accept certain food past the expiration date. Click for a detailed handout on food donation guidelines.

Hawai‘i Foodbank can provide all of the basic materials needed for a drive including a customized fundraising page, food drive banner, donation receipts, Hawaiʻi Foodbank logo (available upon request) and promotional poster. With the exception of the banner, which is mailed or can be picked up, everything can be sent electronically.

Depending on staff availability, you can also request a speaker to attend virtual meeting or a safe physically distanced meeting to share the impact the donations will make in the community.

All of the above can be requested when submitting your Food and Fund Drive registration form. Check out our Food and Fund Drive Guide for inspiration to rally your friends or colleagues.

Through our membership with Feeding America, Hawai‘i Foodbank can leverage its bulk purchasing power to supplement food donations from retailers, manufacturers and farms. A donation of $10 helps to provide food for more than 20 meals. And, 92% of all monetary donations directly support our programs.

Food donations are inspected and sorted by our volunteers and then distributed to our network of more than 200 food partner agencies, who use it to prepare meals for those in need or to supplement the larger deliveries they receive from us. All food donated goes directly into the community.

You bet! To assure that all donations are counted toward your team goal – please provide your team’s URL to family, friends and colleagues so they can donate via credit card online.

For donations made by check, please make checks payable to Hawai‘i Foodbank and be sure to include your company, Food and/or Fund Drive or team name. Donations can be mailed to:

Hawai‘i Foodbank
Attn: Food and Fund Drives
2611 Kilihau St.
Honolulu, HI 96819

The best way to find out how well your drive is doing is by viewing your personalized team page. All donations made through clicking the “donate now” button on your team page will be reflected on your meter instantly. Cash and check donations (with donor information provided) marked for your Food and/or Fund Drive may take five to seven business days upon receipt to be processed and reflected on your virtual food drive page.

You will receive your total food weight upon dropping off to our warehouse and filling out a donation form. Please note, food donations dropped at any of our year-round drop off sites are received as an anonymous donation and do not receive a receipt.

Donations made online, by check or by cash (with donor information provided) will receive a tax acknowledgement letter from Hawai‘i Foodbank within about 30 days of receipt of the donation. Individuals who donate online will receive an automated email instantly in addition to the letter they will receive.

Thank you for considering how to best help Hawai‘i Foodbank! The answer is both are equally important.

We primarily rely on donated food to keep our shelves stocked. Donated food helps us keep our costs minimal. Because of Hawai‘i’s geographical location, shipping costs are added to food purchased from the Continental U.S. In addition to shipping costs, shipping time can be challenge. Depending on where the order is coming from, wait time can be up to three months for Hawai‘i Foodbank to receive the food.

Monetary donations help us purchase the food we need in bulk and because of our partnership with Feeding America, Hawai‘i Foodbank has the purchasing power to buy food at a lower cost. A donation of $10 helps to provide food for 25 meals. Monetary donations provide Hawai‘i Foodbank with the ability to purchase the items needed at any given time. For example, if there is a shortage in donations of fresh produce, monetary donations will be used to help supplement the shortage by purchasing produce from our local farmers. Purchased food is also less resource intensive as the donations do not need to be sorted and inspected the same way food received from food drives do.

Either way you decide to support – we are equally grateful!