Did We Leave a Bag on your Door or Porch?
We call this our "Join Us“ Bag. Its our invitation, asking you to join in to alleviate food insecurity in your community.
We hope this web page explains everything, if not please send us an email with any questions you may have. You can find out how to contact us further down the page.
Who We Are
How It Works
Where the Food Goes
Where the Food Goes
We call it ”A Simple Gesture” because it is. You fill the “Join Us” bag with shelf stable foods and set it out front on the pickup day.
Use the QR Code on the attached card to tell us the bag is there, and we pick it up.
An option to using the QR code is to CLICK HERE or the “Learn More” button below.
Where the Food Goes
Where the Food Goes
Where the Food Goes
The food you donate goes directly to local food pantries or the Food Bank, who then distribute the food to people in your community in need.
We can tell you the targeted pantries before the pickup event, and we can tell you the specific location that received your donation after the event. Click “Learn More” for details.
What Happens Next
Where the Food Goes
What Happens Next
The objective of this food donation program is to provide a predictable and reliable food source. This is the essence of ‘removing food insecurity’.
Most Chapters repeat events every other month. Click the “Learn More” button to find out your Chapters schedule for your area.
Why It Matters
Where the Food Goes
What Happens Next
We all know and understand how nutritious food Is a foundational requirement.
Click the “Learn More” button to get more information about Food Insecurity and how your donation helps others.
Organize and Conduct your "Join Us Event" or...
Planning your first event is exciting and rewarding. You will immediately begin to get a sense of how this program can make a difference. There are many ways to get donors and drivers to sign up. This is a very big topic and deserves its own page; so please CLICK HERE for more information.
We recommend a specific event we call "Join Us Event". You will find a lot more information by following the link in the above paragraph. This is a proven method that has a very low cost with excellent results.
The idea is to target a specific part of your territory, perhaps an area that has around 2000 to 4000 homes. We would suggest to target an area that is known to be 'close knit'. This might be an adult community, an area that has a housing association (a club house, for example), or other ways for the area to feel a neighborly connection to each other.
You then need to find a team of around 30 to 40 people to put a "Join Us Bag" on those doorsteps. The "Intro-Bag" will include a pamphlet that explains details about your program. All of this is covered, including with examples, by following that link at the top of this section.
A great place to go for that initial team would be a club or organization within your community. A Simple Gesture has had great success working with Rotary clubs. You can use Goggle to find a way to contact one in your area. There are probably several. We suggest talking to two or three. Other clubs; Boy Scouts, Kiwanis, Lions, 20-30 club. You might just google "{your city} and the word club or organization to find names.
Most of these clubs are going to very excited to hear about your program. Once again, CLICK HERE for a list of presentations, videos and other information that can help you explain. You could also suggest they come to this site to take a look around; "Who We Are", "Impact Stories" and "How It Works" are great starting points.
The 'ASG Event Manager' software will provide you with a QR code. If you're not familiar, this is a barcode that a smart phone can read, a link will appear and the person clicks it on their phone to get to a website (A URL address). This QR code will be on your pamphlet that is attached to the bag and will answer all the questions your donors might have.
You then ask your drivers to go back to the same streets where they passed out those bags and see what's available for pickup. The drivers will be able to log into 'ASG Event Manager' to see those donors that have registered, but they also need to be on the lookout for bags that were simply set outside. The target is that about 25% of your targeted homes will have bags outside for pickup!
The 'ASG Event Manager' will provide your drivers with a specific drop off address for the food. This might be a Food Bank or local Pantries.
