As pantry manager and Chief Operations Officer Tom Hogan walked the rows in our Community Action Services Provo pantry, the growing need for food was painfully evident. While inflationary indicators are starting to level off, food prices are not. A dollar today no longer stretches to buy the same amount of food that a dollar could buy even last year. That has put a strain on the food supply at Community Action Services & Food Bank (CASFB) food pantries across Utah, Summit and Wasatch counties.

On average, CASFB pantries serve 12,000 guests a month. This equates to about 400,000 pounds of food. During the holiday season, this number can surge, with additional families needing assistance.

To help feed our friends and neighbors in the community who are facing food insecurity, CASFB is calling for a month’s worth of food (400,000 pounds) to help fill its shelves.

We know that 400,000 pounds of food is a lot, but it is doable when we break it down and consider what a pound of food looks like. If your food item is measured in ounces, you know exactly how much the contents weigh. Sixteen ounces equals 1 pound. If your food item is measured in fluid ounces, it’s telling you the content’s volume. The weight will fluctuate depending on the item’s density. Anything more dense than water will weigh more than its volume.

Two 14.5-ounce cans of vegetables, for instance, weigh in at more than 1 pound of food. A bag of flour can be 5 pounds or more. Three boxes of macaroni and cheese or four cans of tuna are also more than 1 pound. So, if just 15,000 people donate 25 cans of food, we will reach our goal. The more people who get involved, the more people we can serve!

How you can help

Even the smallest donation can make a big difference in helping to feed members of our community. Whether you make a one-time donation or set up a recurring donation, we invite you to consider donating to help local families in need.

Another way you can help is to invite your family and friends to drop off food donations at our Provo location (815 S. Freedom Blvd.). We are open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

This makes for a fantastic family or small-party activity. Here are some fun ideas:

• Host a donation potluck where guests bring their food items as well as ingredients they can donate.
• Ask baby shower guests to bring their guess on the baby’s weight in canned food items.
• Challenge party guests to bring the same number of cans as their shoe size.
• Invite your lunch group to meet at a grocery store. Each person shops for food donations in an amount equivalent to what they would spend on lunch.
• Host a “Donate My Age” birthday party where guests bring food donations with the goal of donating a combined item amount or weight equal to your age.

Host a food drive

If an individual can make a difference in a community member’s life, imagine what an entire community can do. This holiday season is the perfect time to host a food drive, and we can help.

On our website, we offer several tips for how you can design and host a successful food drive. We invite local schools, community organizations, church groups, Scout troops and clubs to consider hosting a food drive as part of their holiday festivities this year.

A successful food drive starts with a plan. We encourage you to make it fun for your donors to participate. Here are some ways to promote donations for your food drives:

• Offer free or discounted entrance to an event with a donated canned food item.
• Start a friendly interdepartment competition at work to see which department can donate more food.
• Host a giveaway where donated food items enter you in a drawing for a prize.
• Challenge employees, patrons and visitors to fill a vehicle trunk or truck bed with donated food.
• Hold a virtual food drive and invite your friends to purchase items off our Amazon Wishlist.

What types of food can Community Action receive? Canned or boxed items with a longer shelf life work best. You can find our most needed items list on our site, and we are always in need of the following:

• Canned meats (chicken, beef, tuna)
• Canned soups
• Canned meals
• Canned fruits
• Boxed meals (macaroni and cheese, Hamburger Helper, etc.)

We also often need items such as granola bars, condiments, baking goods and other items. If you have it in your pantry, we likely need it in ours.

To set up a food drive, contact Dan Hansen at danh@casfb.org or call 801-691-5202. We can provide you with food bins, suggest ways to advertise and market your food drive, and coordinate delivery of your donations.

Last year, Nu Skin, in coordination with CASFB, invited its employees to donate their time and resources to feed more than 1,200 households with holiday food bags. In just hours, employees filled hundreds of bags with a holiday turkey, stuffing, canned goods and hand-written notes. Many employees joyfully visited the assembly line multiple times, helping the work move even more quickly. This type of organizational donation and service helps employees feel involved and serves the community in a truly meaningful way. They are planning a similar employee event this year.

Not sure how you want to get involved? We can help suggest ways your organization, school group or club can design and manage a food drive everyone will want to join. Reach out to us today.

Help us meet our goal

Many hands make light work, and we need your helping hands to fill our pantry shelves. We invite each of you to be a part of the solution and help put food on the table for hungry families in our community. With your help, we can reach our goal of 400,000 pounds of food collected during November and December.

To learn more about Community Action and its initiatives, visit our website. We offer a full continuum of activities to help support those facing food and income challenges. From classes on financial literacy to food assistance and healthy food cooking, we offer many ways for those looking to make a difference in their lives to receive help.

Your support helps us continue to reach more individuals and families in our community. We couldn’t do what we do without your help. We appreciate your commitment to helping others become more self-sufficient and overcome the challenges of poverty.