Vincentian Hunger Fighters – Team 8

TEAM 8
VINCENTIAN HUNGER FIGHTERS


Project description

Our team chose The Greater Chicago Food Depository as the organization for the project. Our objectives consisted of spreading awareness and raising funds for this organization. Our team members also had personal interests in this assignment. The desired outcome was to gain project management experience along with enjoying the time working on the project.

The reason why we chose the GCFD was based on our personal values and available resources. We wanted to collaborate with a local organization that has a proven evidence of spreading positive impact on the community. An organization that is known for their act of kindness rather than just another big brand name.  The GCFD was a perfect fit to this description.

We worked on the assumption that the first and the best step to help the organization is to find their needs. Then we matched those needs with our available resources and identified the following events as the most suitable in contributing towards our goals:

• Volunteering at the GCFD facility
• Running a traditional food drive
• Running a virtual food drive.

These events became the core elements of our project.

 

Brief description of the charity

The Greater Chicago Food Depository is Chicago’s food bank. Their mission is to feed the poor and to end hunger in the community.

The GCFD partners with 700 agencies and programs including pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and responses for children, older adults and veterans to collectively achieve their goal. Since 1979, the Food Depository has made a daily impact on hunger across Cook County. Last year, the organization distributed 70 million pounds of food, 35% of which was fresh produce. Every day GCFD distributes the equivalent of 160,000 meals. The GCFD has been recognized as one of the leading charities in Chicago.

 

Factual analysis of success in terms of project objectives

Planned:

  • Goal of 130 likes on our Facebook Page
  • Goal of 40 donors contributing on our Virtual Food Drive
  • Goal of completing 30 Hours of volunteer work at the GCFD facility (equals 10 volunteers)
  • Goal of collecting 150 lbs. of Food

Achieved:

  • 85 likes on our Facebook Page, 661 people reached
  • 4 donors donated $130 via Virtual Food Drive
  • 24,75 hours of volunteer work (equals 9 volunteers)
  • 181 lbs. of Food obtained via actual food drives

 

Lessons learned

  • We have learnt that identifying risk possibilities and managing risks are two different things.
    Identifying risk is the first and the basic step in risk analysis.
    On the other hand, managing risk is a much more difficult and complex act. Having backup plans is a key element in any project.
  • We have learnt that maintaining a healthy balance between planning and execution is very important.

 

Advice for future teams doing similar projects

  • Do not go easy on the marketing part. Focus more on advertising and promoting your events. It is easy to set up marketing campaigns, but difficult to attract and motivate people to participate.
    So be strong in marketing and promoting your event.
  • Communication is the key. Have a regular face to face group meetings to communicate all aspects of project.
  • Have contingency plans for your events. This includes back-up plans for places as well. Do not rely on just one event. We had a good experience with dividing our project into the variety of events.
  • Don’t forget to have fun whether it’s just a group meeting or the actual event.

 

Snaps from the events

REPACK EVENT 

 

 

REPACK EVENT

 

 

REPACK EVENT

 

 

REPACK EVENT

 

 

MICRO FOOD DRIVE

 

 

TRADITIONAL FOOD DRIVE

 

 

TRADITIONAL FOOD DRIVE

 

 

FOOD DRIVE FLIER

 

 

VIRTUAL FOOD DRIVE WEBSITE

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