FAQ
Can I report all food drive results to Schools Serve even if we worked with another food drive program?
Yes, as long as yours is a school-related food drive then we’d love to include your results in our national tally of the great work done by schools.
We highly encourage you to use all resources you can find (you’ll find plenty of links on our school food drive resource page) and to take advantage of all programs that can help you feed the hungry and inspire your students to a lifetime of service to others. Programs like Souper Bowl of Caring and others are terrific assets in this fight.
We know from experience that there is a powerful message sent by bringing all of this good work together. We encourage you to show the world through Schools Serve that your school is actively engaged in the battle.
Who can get the free hard-copy materials from Schools Serve?
The many resources and ideas on our web site are open to any person or organization working to end childhood hunger in America. Every effort helps. Our free hard-copy Driver's Toolkit is reserved only for school drive organizers at recognized K-12 schools and/or the parent groups (PTOs and PTAs, etc.) or clubs (student council, etc.) of those schools.
We do have additional copies of the entire coordinator’s kit and extra individual materials for the kit available for any/all organizations at a small charge to cover production, shipping and handling. Please email
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to request materials.
How does Schools Serve determine pounds of food donated or number of meal equivalents or value?
Yes, this is a tricky matter as food drive donations come in so many sizes and boxes and types of food. And most schools (and even some pantries) don’t have industrial strength scales at the ready for exact measurements. The good news is that several widely-accepted equivalencies have been developed over the years to help practically measure donations and compare proverbial apples-to-apples.
For comparison and reporting purposes, Schools Serve uses:
1 pound of food donated = $1.58 of value donated.
1.28 pounds of food = 1 meal equivalent
1 small box filled = 20 pounds of food
1 medium box filled (copier/banana box) = 40 pounds of food
1 large box = 50 pounds of food
1 standard paper grocery bag = 15 pounds of food
All of these measurements are approximate and vary depending on what types of food are in the containers and the region of the country, etc. The most important thing is collecting enough of the right foods for the right people.
