Fundraising is essential for every non-profit. It's especially important in the realm of hunger relief, as the health and well-being of food insecure Americans relies on the ability of these organizations to find ways to encourage donations.
The four food banks featured below illustrate the innovation and resourcefulness some fundraisers require to feed millions of people across the country.
North Carolina's Food Bank of Albemarle hosts an annual fundraiser called Dine Out to Help Out. The fundraiser this year took place on June 14th and involved 65 local restaurants. Each restaurant donated 10% of its sales that night to the food bank. This year’s goal was to raise $17,500. Profitable and delicious - what more could you ask for?
The Sloatsburg UMC Food Pantry in Sloatsburg, New York took a simpler approach to fundraising. On June 11, the pantry held a “Shred for a Cause” event in the town’s municipal parking lot. Participants were charged $10 per box of documents they needed shredded. All shredding occurred on site and the proceeds went to the UMC Food Pantry-- talk about turning trash into treasure. 
On a larger scale, the Alameda County Community Food Bank and the Greater Cleveland Food Bank are competing in a fundraiser during the NBA Finals. The mayors of Oakland and Cleveland refrained from the tradition of betting on the finals and, instead, decided to rally their communities to donate to their respective food banks. The competition, known as the Food Bank Finals Challenge, runs until the end of the series. Combined, the two food banks serve 885,000 people per year. Hunger: 0, Food Banks: 1.
The director of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeast North Carolina, Jim Thomas, took a more creative approach to fighting hunger. Thomas created an event called “Food Bank Food Fight,” which challenged local chefs to create exciting dishes out of food bank staple items.
Inspired by the Food Network’s “Chopped,” the challenge took place for the first time this May, and featured about 20 teams. The food bank collected money by charging people for admission. After paying the $30, or $50 for VIP access, guests were able to try every food item cooked by the teams, and they voted one item for the award entitled “People’s Choice.” The panel of local celebrity judges, such as the mayor and Miss Fayetteville, voted for the Food Bank Food Fight Champion based on flavor and creativity of the dish.
All money raised went to the food bank. In addition, the recipes the teams created using the food bank staple items were compiled into a cookbook that will be made available to the food bank clients.
We applaud the hard work and dedication to hunger relief that went into creating these fun and successful fundraisers.
Do you want to contribute to the fight to end hunger? Read here to get more information about starting a food drive!
