country programs
ORGANIZING TIME
No more than 3 days
DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT
Twelve-year-old A.J. Goode accompanied YCW of Chillicothe Advisor Bill Stansberry on a United Way briefing at United Parcel Service (UPS). During the presentation, one of the audience asked A.J. what kinds of projects he liked. A.J. responded that he likes to collect food for the needy. UPS staff said, "Cool, how can we help?" Partnering with UPS and other community agencies, the group collected approximately 60 shopping carts full of food for the local Food Bank.
LEVEL OF YOUTH INVOLVEMENT
This service project calls for a high level of youth involvement. The Chillicothe youth came up with the idea; approached the partner agencies; designed, produced and distributed flyers; collected food; unloaded donations at the Food Bank; and thanked the corporate partners.
COST
- Creating and copying flyers to announce the project (this group used 150 flyers).
- Thank you notes, envelopes, and stamps to send thank you notes to corporate partners.
- Travel costs: It may be necessary to pay travel costs to visit corporate sponsors to explain the project and possibly travel costs to transport youth to the event.
- End-of-project celebration: Although this group did not have a celebration for the youth working with the project, you may choose to have some kind of event such as a pizza party after the project is completed.
STEPS TO MAKE IT HAPPEN
- Contact key community organizations
to get their involvement.
- This group contacted Community Markets (the local grocery store) and asked if they could set up the food drive in the parking lot outside their store on a Saturday. Because of the close relationship that already existed between the Market and the YCW group, this only involved a telephone call. You may need to go to the store to have a face-to-face meeting with a store manager.
- UPS donated a truck for the day and the driver volunteered his time. You will need to have a meeting with your corporate partner to outline what your project is and how you need their help. If the drivers are unionized, you may need to seek approval and participation from the union.
- Meet with the local food bank (for this group it was Good Samaritan) to make sure they are in support of the initiative. Good Samaritan was closed on Saturdays, when the drive took place, so this event required some coordination.
- Design flyers and check with corporate allies to gain their approval. Don’t forget to publicly acknowledge all your corporate partners on the flyer.
- Set up for the day in the location designated by your sponsor.
The Chillicothe group set up in the parking lot of the Market.
The UPS driver delivered and parked the truck. He stayed for
the first 30 minutes of the drive and then returned for the
last 30 minutes. He then transported the food to the Food Bank and
helped to unload it. The youth passed out flyers and greeted
customers as they were going into the market. They accepted
the food, thanked the donors, and loaded the food into the truck.
Many of the people also returned the flyer so it could be re-used
to encourage others to contribute.
HOURS OF OPERATION
The Chillicothe group drive ran from 10a.m. to 3p.m. on a Saturday during the school year.
NUMBERS INVOLVED
12 youth ranging from 10 to 17 years old and four adults.
THE RESULTS
- Donations received filled half a UPS delivery van with food for the Food Bank (equivalent to approximately 60 shopping carts of food).
- FedEx saw the story in the paper and asked how they could become involved.
- One of the FedEx drivers contacted acquaintances at DHL and got them involved.
THANKING YOUR PARTNERS
- Be sure to send each corporate sponsor a thank-you letter as well as photos of the event. If the union is involved, don’t forget them either.
- Send a special thank you letter to any individuals who donated their time to help you make it happen.
- If possible, take photos of the volunteers helping out at the event and send each volunteer a copy.
MORE TIPS FOR SUCCESS
- Don’t’ forget to take lots of photos.
- Conduct your food drive during the first week of the month when more people go to the store.
- Don’t run the event for more than four or five hours.
- Adult supervision is necessary for this event.
- Make sure you have spoken with the manager about where to park
the truck and get permission to approach customers.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT, CONTACT
Bill Stansberry
Youth Crime Watch of Chillicothe
Chillicothe Metropolitan Housing Authority
6349 Mt. Tabor Road
Chillicothe, OH 45601
tel: 740-775-7881, ext 115
fax: 740-775-7896
wstansberry@hotmail.com
