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Redwood Credit Union Food Drive
Starting Oct 20th and running to Dec 19th, the Redwood Credit Union and A Simple Gesture are going to partner to make a huge impact in Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, and Lake Counties. We need help!! This page will provide more information.
Volunteers Needed; Overview
We are seeking volunteers to provide 1-2 hours of support a few times between Oct 20th and Dec 19th. The result is to make our area the single largest home-food donation program in the country. We expect to register 6000 donors, which translates to over 500,000 lbs of food a year. This is a game-changer in the fight against food insecurity.
The type of work can vary from setting up tables for events, helping out at the event itself, and going around to local non-profits, clubs, and merchants to help them get involved.
The work will never be more than 2 hours at a time, although you can certainly volunteer to do ‘back to back’ events. This page will provide the following information;
- The types of events
- The specific things you would do
- A calendar for you to use, to sign up
Each section below will describe the event. Click on the link at the top or bottom to sign up to participate. You can do as many events as you’d like.
Event 1: Setup and Take Down Tabletops
A tabletop event is when we setup a table in front of a grocery store, at the exit of a church, at a city fair, or any other venue. Each table top needs materials, which will either be at another volunteers house or in their car.
Most tabletop events last 4 hours. So we’ve broken those into “set up“ and “take down”.
- Setup: You would pick up the supplies from a place we provide. You then spend about 15 to 30 minutes setting up the table, setting up the banner, and arranging the things that sit on the table; (information cards, snacks, beverages). You would then be done, or have the option to work the table top event for up to 60 minutes to reach the full 2 hour shift.
- Takedown; you would arrive as the event ends, or up to 60 minutes before if you want to work the full 2 hours. Your role is to then take the tabletop down, put the supplies in your car, and either take it somewhere (we will tell you where) or hang onto it for the next “Setup” person to come get the materials at a later date.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE CALENDAR OF EVENTS. Put your name and email next to the Set up and take down fields, and let us know if you plan to work for 1 or 2 hours. We will be in touch with you to confirm and answer any questions you may have.
Event 2: Retail Store Campaigns
There are many “community based” stores in our area. By ‘community based’ we mean stores that are locally owned and operated. Often times these stores place a high importance on making their community better.
You would decide which stores to approach, we will give some examples in a moment. The “Ask” is to approach the store manager or owner and explain our program. (More on that below). You then explain to them that we have a “win win” idea, everyone comes out ahead. Here it is;
- You place a sign at or near checkout, it says “$10 off if you register for “A Simple Gesture”.
- There is a stack of 5x7 cards that explain everything, and how to register.
- When they register, you hand them a reusable bag (or if there are no bags, just ask them to use any bag the first time. We will leave a reusable bag at the first pick up).
- To register, they click the QR code each store is given; unique to that store. At the end, they show the “Complete” screen to you.
- We fund 1/2 of the $10 discount, the store the rest. If necessary we would do 6, 7 8, 9 or even all $10. But we are going to ask merchants to split it with us. We track signups and then provide the merchant the payment.
The program to explain is;
- We are a community based program, neighbors helping neighbors. They way it should be. All food donated stays right here to help people struggling in this Community.
- People leave a bag of shelf-stable foods on their doorstep, and our volunteers pick it up and take it to a pantry.
- The program is either monthly or bi-monthly, that’s decided by the people running the chapter in that area (info we give you).
The “win win” is;
- The merchant is viewed in a very positive light
- The donor gets something in return, something novel and interesting.
- A donor signs up; which is equal to 80-100 pounds of food a year, a value of nearly $300 a year for years to come. All for a cost of $10.
Is it hard to convince a store owner/manager to do this? If it is, don’t try. In our experience more than 80% of merchants quickly agree. They see the benefits. If we have to pay all $10 then they come out way ahead, which is why we hope you can get them to go 50/50. But that’s ok, just getting them to do it is the key.
There is no particular schedule for this work; What you need;
- CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP, we can then email you and settle on these items
- We will give you 5x7 cards In advance that are not specific to the stores, but they have a unique card number. But they have a unique QR code. We give you a stand-up Sign that goes near the register. We also will give you a quantity of bags. You go into a store, get them to agree, and that’s it. You tell us store name and “Card Number”.
- Or, you let the store know we will make a custom card with their store name. You come pick up those cards when they are ready and take back to the store.
Event 3: Sporting Events/School Events
When a school puts on a play or has a sporting event people often are buying tickets at the door. We will pay their entry fee. To get in, they simply need to register.
We can do this several ways.
- Go to the school and arrange up front; they can send an email to their email list offering this special event. Free ticket, just register.
- you then set up a special line at the event.
- At the end of the event, we pay the money to the school.
This program needs to be explained to the schools, so that’s on the calendar to get things going. You can either sign up to get it arranged, or you can sign up to work the table that is registering donors. We need your help adding dates and times. The sign up list below is only asking for people that will go to the school to set up the program. Once set up, we will add dates to the sign up sheet for people that just want to work the table.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER, we will get back to you shortly.
Event 4: Contacting Non-Profits
Non profits have their own mailing lists. We can offer each one $10 for every donor they register. We provide them a unique URL code to put in the email; “click here to register”. When someone clicks it, we can then track the #’s.
We can provide you the URL code unique to that that non profit. Your role is contact them, explain the program, and help them write the email. We will provide you a template of “suggested words” but they can adapt it as they wish.
A key to this is for their email to be personal. The more it’s just a “Here is something, take a look and decide” the less likely people are to register. But if they can explain how the $10 helps them, and why it’s important to them, it gets more personal and more effective.