Thank you for helping us launch WeCanEndThis.com – you have helped us exceed our initial participation goals. What’s amazing is that you’ve accomplished this while dealing with the increasing demand on the food safety net. We thank you!
Now that WeCanEndThis.com is launched and we have had the weekend to catch our breath, we wanted to share a few important thoughts with you:
Awareness is Our #1 Goal
You know we can end hunger and that the challenge is getting enough people to care and take action. The Digital Can Drive is a competition designed to use state pride as a way for you to get more people talking about hunger and taking action to end it. It won’t end hunger.
We’ve decided to focus on the state level instead of individual food banks for three reasons:
- State pride is a powerful motivator.
- We need to create awareness on a statewide level in every state, if we aspire to make the systemic changes needed to end hunger in America.
- Most people are unaware of how the food bank system works.
How You Can Benefit from Promoting WeCanEndThis.com
The prospect of winning a truckload of food can help energize your community, if the timing is right. We encourage you to use WeCanEndThis.com as a way to improve and expand your outreach efforts. View this as a communications capacity builder and a way to build stronger relationships within your community.
Here’s the secret formula for winning:
- Think about how you can make it easy for someone to lead the charge. What can you create so that they can focus their energies on sharing the message?
- Write a blog post (or Facebook Fan Page note) on how people can help and share it with people who could be your state champions.
- Email is the most effective way to spur action. Send an email to your database explaining the opportunity and why you’re pursuing it.
- Facebook, Twitter, and other Social Media are the best way to spread the message. Be sure to update these accounts at least daily, if not more.
- In each of these channels, share progress reports – thank people who are helping – tell why your state deserves to win – showcase the good you’re already creating.
- Give a clear call-to-action and provide a website link for where people need to go.
- Pace yourself. If you choose to pursue this, keep mindful that this runs till March 18.
How Will We Decide Which Food Banks Get the Trucks?
This is the question many of you want to know. Frankly, we would want to know this, too, if we were in your position.
The short answer is we don’t know. This contest is not perfect. In some states, the choice might be obvious. In others, it won’t be for a myriad of reason.
When the time to decide comes, we will consult with Tyson Foods and our other partners. Your comments, ideas, and suggestions will play a key role in how we decide.
If you were in our shoes and you can only pick one food bank in each state, how would you decide this? What factors would you weigh? How can make sure it creates the most good?
7 Comments
If it is possible to have each food bank from winning states send an email or some correspondence explaining how they promoted the WeCanEndThis Campaign. Something as simple as: How many people did you email, how many tweets, facebook posts etc. Then base your decision off of that. I believe a lot of food banks are dedicating time and resources to really promote this event.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to give feedback and comments.
We have an association of 6 food banks (5 in Minnesota and 1 in Fargo, North Dakota) that automatically share food donations that are 3 pallets or larger based on a predetermined formula. This allocation formula is determined using the percentage of people in poverty in combination with other factors. The result is an equal distribution of inventory which allows agencies across 2 entire states to have access to large local and National donations such as this offering from Tyson and Conagra. It also encourages collaboration, not competition, among neighboring food banks which allows us all to focus on our mission of ending hunger.
In Arkansas we also have a state association of the Feeding America Food Banks and we also share items via a formula based on the FA distribution formulas.
The Hand Up Youth Food Pantry at JFS (www.jfssd.org/handup) is not a food bank, but a pantry that has the capacity to receive a truckload of food and will put it directly into the hands of San Diegans in need.
Currently, California has 76 cans (11th place). My personal goal is to spread the word to 3000 additional cans for Califonia in the next 8 days. If that happens (3,076 cans for CA) and CA ranks in the top 10, I think the Hand Up Youth Food Pantry should receive a truckload. If pantries are ineligible, please donate to Feeding America San Diego (one of our local deserving food banks).
Michigan, too, has a state-wide association, but that’s not why I’m writing. Although Feeding America West Michigan Food Bank is just getting started in social media (@feedingwestmich just got its first local follower this week!), we have a much longer history of innovative programming. I don’t know how far along planning has gone for the e-book series, Hunger Shift, but if it’s not too late, somebody should talk to our executive director (I’d be happy to forward your inquiries). Several of his as-yet unimplemented ideas are about to be piloted by one of our newest agencies (basically a research and development non-profit) – you can find project summaries at Nonprofit Innovations Inc.
Thank you, all, for offering up your ideas and thoughts. You’re helping us out very much.
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I agree with Terra Keller. I think it’s important to recognize the foodbanks that dedicated resources to promoting the WeCanEndThis Campaign. Calling on the foodbanks to send an email with the time and resources dedicated to promotion seems to be the fairest way to determine which foodbank receives the donation.
I’d like to extend a big thanks to all the sponsors of this event! Even if our state doesn’t win, we built awareness. One of our donors posted it to an online bulletin board; encouraging her whole company (300+ people) to vote! Even if her coworkers didn’t take the time to do it, it increased our visibility.