Food Drives

Every Food Drive Makes a Difference.

When you host a food drive, you’re helping people in your own community access the nutritious food they need to thrive. And if you can’t host a traditional drive, you can still help by hosting a virtual one! Learn more about how to host a traditional or a virtual food drive below.

Traditional Food Drives

Every year, more than 2 million pounds of food is collected through traditional food drives organized by individuals, corporations, religious organizations, schools, associations, and more.

Food donations stay in the county in which they’re collected, so you’re making a difference for neighbors right around the corner.

Our most needed items are:

Peanut Butter
Canned Meat (Chicken or Tuna)
Canned Vegetables
Canned Fruit
Pasta
Cereal

How to Host a Traditional Food Drive

Second Harvest is here to help you make your food drive a success. We provide the boxes, the promotional materials, and a step-by-step process to make it as smooth as possible.
Second Harvest is here to help you make your food drive a success. We provide the boxes, the promotional materials, and a step-by-step process to make it as smooth as possible.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Register Your Drive

Complete the registration form so we know about your drive!
Davidson County | Outside Davidson County

2. Collect Food Drive Boxes

You can pick up as many food drive boxes as you need from Second Harvest. Food drive boxes (about 19” wide, 12” deep, and 30” tall) display our logo and a list of foods we need most. Each box holds about 80 pounds of food. Pick up Monday – Friday 8:00am – 4:00pm in our lobby at 331 Great Circle Rd. If you cannot pick up our boxes, you may use your own.

3. Promote Your Drive

Below are some resources to help you plan, promote and host your food drive:
Food Drive Poster 11×17
Food Drive How To
Most Needed Items
Children’s Most Needed Items
Food and Fund Drive Ideas
Look Up Food Insecurity Statistics in Your County
Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee Facts
Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee Logo
Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee Logo Guidelines

4. Get Your Food to Neighbors

You can drop off food drive donations any time in the Second Harvest donation barrels at your nearest Kroger store. If you registered a food drive in Davidson County, you can also follow these steps.

If you registered a food drive outside of Davidson County, a Second Harvest team member will contact you to help you connect with one of our Partners in your community.

Virtual Food Drives

Can’t host an in-person food drive? No worries. You can do it virtually! A virtual food drive is an online fundraising tool that’s an easy, fun, and highly effective way to empower the lives of people facing food insecurity. By hosting a virtual food drive, you’re providing crucial funding for the nutritious food our Partner Agencies distribute across Middle and West Tennessee.

Start fundraising in seconds with a virtual food drive! Email Jack Stell or click below to get started.