Collection ideas

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Trick or Treat So Kids Can Eatsm

30 Creative promotion and collection activities

  1. Set a collection total goal for your troupe. A troupe of twenty students, for example, can collect 1,000 pounds of food with a little effort. Keep track of your donations by using a “food goal thermometer.” Color in the amounts daily to show the progress.
  2. Put up posters around the school and community a week before your official collection night.
  3. Collect canned food at a school sporting event, dance or other activity. Hand out fliers and give donors strands of beads in school colors.
  4. Have the football team run through a giant “Trick or Treat so Kids Can Eat” banner as they take the field. Announcers can inform the fans about the significance of the TOTS-EAT program.
  5. Challenge a rival school to collect as much food as your school.
  6. Put on an extra performance of a show, a talent show, pep rally, or choir concert and “charge” two canned goods as an entry fee or offer a discount to those that donate.
  7. Challenge classes to build a can sculpture or pyramid, with the largest or best one being named as the winner.
  8. Get the PTA or boosters involved in your food drive. Perhaps they’ll sponsor a post-collection party for the troupe.
  9. Promote the fact that your school is eligible for ITS community service awards to everyone in school, especially your principal. This may help get some of the support you need for your ideas.
  10. Get a local store to donate bags to which you can attach your pre-collection announcement card. This way you can provide bags for donors and promote the company that donated them.
  11. Convince a teacher to offer extra credit points to students who bring in two canned goods.
  12. Have a sign company prepare a banner that you can put up in front of the school.
  13. Enter students who donate two cans into a raffle to get free admission to the homecoming game and dance.
  14. Park a big truck in front of the school with a big “Trick or Treat so Kids Can Eat” sign on the side. Collect donations over time and try to fill the truck.
  15. If your fall show is a musical, sing selections from the show periodically as you go through the neighborhood in costume while collecting the donations.
  16. If your school administration will support it, have several “dress down” Fridays at school. Every student who brings in canned goods will get a dress-down pass for the next Friday.
  17. Collect donations at every homeroom period. Thespians can make a short presentation about the TOTS-EAT collection. Ask a local pizzeria to donate a pizza party for the winning homeroom.
  18. Have collection containers placed in the study hall room. Offer a reward for the study hall period that donates the most food.
  19. Use school announcements and/or television channel to promote TOTS-EAT.
  20. Have your troupe conduct a kick-off party after school. Invite everyone and explain the importance of TOTS-EAT and stress that all donations are distributed locally.
  21. Talk to the local food bank before the collection night to see if they have any specific needs. Print these requirements on fliers and distribute them before the actual collection night.
  22. Partner with your local place of worship or another organization that already collects and distributes “food baskets” locally. Volunteer to help with the deliveries.
  23. Set up a pie toss or dunk tank at your school and have students and faculty volunteer to be the “target.” Charge two canned goods per throw. Alert your community press of this event; it’s a great public relations opportunity. Ask the city’s mayor or other local politician to volunteer too.
  24. Borrow grocery carts from a local store and use them to collect the canned goods. Make large signs for the carts advertising TOTS-EAT to promote your efforts.
  25. Arrange to perform a short Halloween Trick-or-Treat safety skit at the local middle or elementary school. Ask them to bring a canned good for “admission.”
  26. Divide your troupe into smaller groups of students. Give each group a theme and ask them to dress appropriately on collection night. The group with the highest donation total wins.
  27. Invite a staff member or volunteer from the food bank to your school to talk to students about local hunger issues.
  28. Ask other student organizations, such as Student Council, to help with a school-wide food drive to generate excitement and participation from a broader student base.
  29. Collect food for the entire month of October. Sponsor a different letter of the alphabet each day and encourage students to bring in food items beginning with that letter.
  30. Host a fall festival with lots of different activities like face painting, temporary tattoos, water balloon, toss, etc. Participants must pay for activities with canned goods.