In May, we’re asking our community to join our Rally for Rice Food & Funds Drive! Our goal? To collect 15,000 bags of rice to help nourish our neighbors in need—and we can’t do it without you. Rice is a versatile, nutritious pantry staple with a long shelf life—perfect for helping families facing food insecurity prepare wholesome meals. Whether you donate a single bag or rally your coworkers, school, or community group to join in, every grain counts.
Your participation can significantly impact neighbors facing hunger. Food drives are vital because they provide direct assistance, reduce food waste, strengthen community bonds, and promote overall well-being. However, we’ve recently seen a troubling dip in donations at a time when we’re serving the most we’ve ever served (142,000 people!).
Donate to the Rally for Rice Virtual Food Drive
Thanks to our wholesale buying power, every $1 you give helps us provide $3 worth of food! Your donation goes further and helps us stock up on essentials—like rice—to feed our community.
Host a Food Collection Bin
Make hosting a food drive easy and fun! Set up a collection bin at your school, work, church, apartment complex—anywhere people gather. Spread the word to coworkers, classmates, friends, and neighbors to fill the bin with donations (specifically rice donations this May!). Once it’s full, bring it to the Redwood Empire Food Bank!
Need a flyer to boost awareness? We’ve got you covered! Simply click here to download and print our food and funds drive flyer. If you’d like a specific Rally for Rice flyer, you can download it here. You can also email Nicole Lorange at nlorange@refb.org, and we’ll print one for you!
Ding-Dong Donate
Help collect rice and other food donations for those facing hunger in our community by canvassing your neighborhood.
- Print out general flyers | Print out Rally for Rice flyers.
- Go door to door dropping bags with supplied flyers at your neighbors’ doorsteps. (The bag will have instructions letting people know to fill it with non-perishable foods for the Redwood Empire Food Bank.)
- Neighbors will place their filled bag outside their front door on a date of your choosing. (We suggest giving them at least 24 hours to fill the bag.)
- Collect the filled bags and bring them to the Redwood Empire Food Bank at 3990 Brickway Blvd., Santa Rosa.
Host a Donation Station
- Encourage people to collect funds or fill a couple of bags with non-perishable food.
- Ask them to bring donations to the front of “Your Business”.
- Set up an area where people can drive-through to drop off their donations.
Host a Virtual Food Drive
- Click here and select the “Create my Own Fundraising Page” to create your own virtual food drive.
- Set a goal, write a little bit about yourself and your efforts.
- Share your link to your friends, family, and more!
For tips on hosting a successful food drive, check out our toolkit!
Always thinking about the kids
“We want to thank you for always thinking about the kids during the summer. We got let go from work during this time as we are seasonal workers. You don’t know how much I would feel like I failed my children if you were not here. We especially appreciate how we can pick up the week’s worth of food on one day. Gas is a luxury to us and we don’t have enough to come every day. You were all sent from God for the community, thank you all so much. God bless.”
—Parent at a summer feeding site in Santa Rosa, CA
