Since we can’t do our normal Back to School Bash this year (thanks COVID), we’re getting creative with another idea instead! Our children’s pastor wanted to find a fun way to distribute our Back to School Kits to families while also helping our food pantry stock up on the most-needed items for the year ahead. So she came up with Drive Away Hunger: A Drive-Through Food Drive Event! 

What is it? Drive Away Hunger is a back to school event that helps us connect with our people and also gives back to the community. It’s a drive-through food drive where families bring donations for our food pantry, and they also pick up a Back to School Kit and an ice cream treat!

How will it work? Church members of all ages are invited to drive through the church parking lot and drop off their donations anytime between 6:30-8:00 PM on Wednesday, August 19. It’ll be a chance for them to serve through food donations, enter a raffle, receive a gift bag from the children’s ministry, and connect with church leadership! Families will drive through a few different stations and won’t ever even have to get out of their cars:

  1. Donation drop-off – Families will drop off their donations of our needed food items. We’ll use the food items to stock our church’s food pantry that provides food for BackPack Love, one of our ministry partners.
  2. Thank You Card & Raffle – As a thank-you for bringing food donations, families will be entered into a raffle to win an Amazon gift card. We wanted to provide an incentive for everyone in the church – not just the families with school-age kids – so the raffle was our solution. (Who doesn’t love an Amazon gift card?) We’ll also pass out a small thank you note/card that has more information about BackPack Love and ways to serve or other food items needed for this year.
  3. Back to School Gift Bags from the children’s ministry – Our children’s pastor put together a bag of goodies including a few school supplies, resources for parents, a Chick-fil-a coupon, and more! See all of our favorite Back to School Kit ideas here.
  4. Ice cream treats – This is where I’ll be! On their way out, people are invited to stop for a free ice cream cone or freezie pop to enjoy!

How did we communicate about the event? With a church-wide email, announcements on our Sunday live stream, a FaceBook event, and social media posts.

We can’t wait to see the turnout for this event, and we’re excited to kick off the school year in a whole new way!

Update: The event was a hit! The weather held off for us and we saw around 100 cars drive through, collecting lots of canned goods for our food pantry and seeing so many smiling faces! See a few pictures from the event here.

Looking for another fun fall family event? Check out our recently updated Fall Family Night resource here! It’s got all the details you need to host a fall family night, no matter how you’re meeting! 

    One Comment

  1. […] even bring back some of the creative alternatives from last year during COVID-season, like the Drive Through Back-to-School Event that my church […]

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