Thursday, March 20, 2008

North Texas Food Bank introduces online donation option

Virtual food drive? Can do!

By John P. Meyer

It was an idea ripe for the picking: ere now, food drives have involved unwieldy boxes and demanded that actual physical canned or other non-perishable items be purchased at the store and brought in person to the collection station. Low tech and resource intensive, no? (Yes.)

Enter Jan Pruitt, CEO of the North Texas Food Bank. After her own sainted spouse forgot to bring his canned goods into the office during their own food drive, Jan decided there ought to be an easier way to contribute.

And, of course, there is - via online donation. On the website developed by the NTFB and Aidmatrix, donors can make an online financial donation by selecting seasonally in-demand food products, then clicking and dragging them into a virtual grocery cart. Every dollar contributed is used for food purchase, without the necessity to drive to the store, buy the actual food and then deliver it to the collection station. User-friendly and interactive, the Virtual Food Drive technology also calculates how many meals the donation provides and the benefit obtained thanks to the Food Bank’s leveraged buying power.

The folks over at the AFI Dallas International Film Festival have been early adopters of the concept. Says CEO Michael Cain: "We are a festival that is for the community. And the Virtual Food Drive is a better way to get our community involved. Everyone who logs onto AFIDALLAS.com to search for film screenings can make a few extra clicks and help us in the fight to end hunger in North Texas.”

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