Feeding Hope: How DC Food Project is Filling the Hunger Gap in Local Schools with Help from SignUpGenius

The Challenge:

Filling the hunger gap in Washington DC schools.

The Mission:

After a group of moms learned that a teacher in their school was buying food for a student who did not have enough to eat, they were inspired to start The DC Food Project in 2018. The nonprofit partners with local schools to fill the “hunger gap” -- helping students who don’t have enough to eat after school and on the weekends when school meals are not available. This gap has an impact on tens of thousands of students, with 1 in 5 children struggling with hunger in Washington DC.

Rallying Community Support with SignUpGenius

The DC Food Project uses SignUpGenius to coordinate events and volunteers as they serve more than 50 schools. Their flagship Pantry Program provides students easy access to non-perishable food and toiletries, pantries are set up in local schools and managed by staff. Organizers use sign ups to plan five distribution days during the school year, scheduling volunteers to sort and deliver thousands of pounds of bulk food items and other much-needed essentials.

They also use sign ups to coordinate sponsorship opportunities for groups interested in volunteering and providing financial support for the Pantry Program.

Pivoting When Facing the Unexpected

During the COVID-19 shutdown, the DC Food Project team shifted their operations quickly to increase food distributions to families. After asking people in the community to place food donations on their front porches, they used sign ups to schedule volunteers to pick up items and deliver them to schools.With help from SignUpGenius, the DC Food Project provided much-needed support and offered safe volunteer opportunities.

Features that Make a Difference

Using SignUpGenius’ multiple slots feature, the DC Food Program team can easily list volunteer opportunities for the entire year, so groups can look ahead and choose a convenient date. They also appreciate the ability to edit the sign up and make updates in real time. They can show the full scope of their programs and request help for days of service.

The ability to create sign up reports is also essential for the DC Food Project team, ensuring they can map out volunteer assignments to schools across the city. They download reports as CSV files to help organize their bigger distributions and keep everything on track.

Conclusion

The DC Food Project team is helping to eliminate hunger in Washington DC schools so students can thrive and learn. We’re honored to help bring your community together to grow your impact.