Fall Food Drive Season Starts Now!
September marks Hunger Action Month, the biggest hunger-awareness moment of the year, and fall food drive season is officially underway. Here’s what you need to know to make the most of it.
Are You Ready for Fall Food Drive Season?
Between back-to-school breakfast needs and September’s Hunger Action Month, fall is one of the busiest and most important stretches of the year for food banks and pantries — and the earlier your organization starts planning, the more momentum you’ll be able to build. Whether you’re setting up a new virtual food drive, reactivating past drive organizers, or just getting the word out to your community, #GiveHealthy is here to make it easier to turn that planning into results.
Have you started planning your fall food drive yet? Whether you’re fully ready to go, still working out the details, or haven’t started, now is the time. Reach out to our team — we’re happy to help you set your goal, connect with drive organizers, or share what’s worked well for other partners gearing up for the season.
You’re in good company — partners across our network are already turning their attention to fall, from launching new virtual food drives on the #GiveHealthy platform to recruiting drive organizers and getting the word out to their donor communities ahead of Hunger Action Month. We’ll be sharing more of their stories in the months ahead, and we’d love for yours to be one of them.
Back to School, Back to Breakfast: Closing the Hunger Gap Before It Widens
For millions of children, summer break doesn’t just mean time off from school — it means losing access to the free or reduced-price meals they rely on all year. Food banks and school nutrition programs have spent the past few months working to fill that gap, but as classrooms reopen this month, many families are still catching up, and back-to-school costs like supplies, clothing, and fees only add to the strain on already-tight grocery budgets.
Breakfast, in particular, is often the first meal to get skipped when a household is stretched thin — even though it’s one of the most important for a child’s ability to focus and learn. That’s exactly why breakfast-focused drives, like the one currently underway with our partner The Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County (see the Food Drive Spotlight below!), matter so much this time of year: shelf-stable breakfast staples like cereal, eggs, oatmeal, and milk can make the difference between a child starting their school day ready to learn or starting it hungry.
And the timing couldn’t be more important. September marks Hunger Action Month, the nationwide Feeding America campaign that unites food banks, donors, and communities around a single goal: raising awareness and inspiring action to end hunger. As we head into fall, it’s the perfect moment for your organization to build on back-to-school momentum and rally your community around a Hunger Action Month drive of your own — more on that below.
Partner Spotlight
Every newsletter we spotlight a different Food Bank or Pantry doing exceptional work. This month we’re proud to spotlight Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank, a #GiveHealthy partner for a number of years now. Serving Caroline, Fredericksburg, King George, Stafford, and Spotsylvania in Virginia, the Food Bank works through a network of more than 150 community partner agencies and 250+ food assistance programs to help feed over 35,000 people each year. As a member of the Feeding America network, their mission is simple but powerful: no one in their community should go hungry. We’re grateful for their continued partnership and everything they do on the front lines of hunger relief in the Fredericksburg region.
Food Drive Spotlight
As kids head back to the classroom, school supplies aren’t the only things they need to succeed — the most important tool for a great day of learning starts at the breakfast table. That’s the idea behind the Food Bank Summer Breakfast Foods Drive, a #GiveHealthy virtual food drive benefiting The Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, which serves nonprofit partners feeding families across Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Stamford, and Wilton.
The drive is focused on breakfast staples that are kid-approved, shelf-stable, and packed with the energy children need to learn, play, and grow — think eggs, milk, cereal, oatmeal, and peanut butter. So far, generous donors have contributed over 1,600 lbs toward the drive’s 2,000 lb goal, with over 35 donors pitching in and just under two weeks left to go. Every contribution helps make sure kids in the community start their school day with a full stomach and a smile.
Current News
How Food Banks Are Adapting Operations to Meet Rising Demand
As SNAP participation continues to decline nationwide, Feeding America CEO Denis McDonough says food banks are responding by purchasing record levels of food, expanding application assistance for benefits programs, and working directly with farmers and retailers to find additional supply sources. He notes that a drop in SNAP participation doesn’t necessarily mean fewer people need help — it more often means eligible people are losing access to it — and food banks are bracing for demand that could rival or exceed last fall’s government shutdown. The story offers a useful look at how organizations are adjusting sourcing and outreach strategies to keep pace.
(Axios, 3 minute read)
States Step Up Funding as Food Banks Face Rising Demand
As federal SNAP cuts push more families toward local food pantries, some state legislatures are responding with new funding. North Carolina lawmakers recently directed over $9 million in one-time funds to food banks statewide, along with smaller grants for dozens of local food programs, as demand at some pantries has climbed as much as 20% this year. The story also highlights community-driven solutions filling the gap: one Guilford County nonprofit’s “green bag” neighbor-to-neighbor food collection program has grown so large it now uses commercial routing software to manage donations — a reminder that community-level innovation remains a powerful complement to public funding.
(North Carolina Health News, 5 minute read)
Record Share of Massachusetts Households Faced Food Insecurity in 2025
A new survey from the Greater Boston Food Bank and Mass General Brigham found that 40% of Massachusetts households lacked consistent access to food in 2025, a record high driven by the state’s cost of living, inflation, and last year’s federal government shutdown. More than half of food-insecure households relied on food charities, also a record, even as federal food supplies to the food bank were reduced. Researchers noted the survey was conducted before new SNAP work requirements and eligibility rules took effect, and the report predicts those changes will push even more households toward food pantries in 2026 — a trend food banks nationwide are watching closely as they head into the fall.
(Axios, 4 minute read)
