Consider this a note of encouragement to all of you who are engaged in a monthly neighborhood food pick up. What you are doing is amazing, and it is making a difference. Every single item you bring to the food shelves is more than they would have had without your efforts, and is critical at a time when more families than ever before are relying on their services and resources.

We have been hearing back from a lot of you that neighborhood responses have been low, or lower than usual. We, too, have experienced low months. Because this is still relatively new, we are still learning - right alongside you through our experiences in our own neighborhoods.

- We have learned that our neighbors need monthly reminders. When we began, we were working with the theory that, through repetition, households would start to habitually put food out on their front steps on the designated pick up day. We all know that households are busy places, and that friendly reminders help families remember to purchase the food, and then to leave it out on the right day and time.

- We have learned that reminders given out too far in advance are not as effective as those given one or two days before the pick up, and that seeing the word "tomorrow" on a reminder seems to have more impact than seeing the actual date printed out.

- We have learned that neighbors respond to what we, as a family, put into the effort of reminding them. Our most successful months have been those where we have left a bag with a reminder note on front door handles, or a can of food wrapped with the reminder note on the front step. (Listed below are several ideas that families have used to remind their neighbors.) In the months where we have not done anything to remind our neighbors, the number of homes that have participated have been very low. In the months where we take the time to come up with and deliver a meaningful reminder, or use a combination of reminders (i.e., e-mail reminder, yard sign, postcard), we have had far more homes leave food for the pick up. Of course, this in not a perfect rule...some of you have expressed frustration over taking time and energy to remind your neighbors in creative ways, and not seen the results you were hoping for. We just encourage you to stick with it until you find a system that is meaningful to your neighborhood. We would also love to have conversation with you about how we can better support what you are doing.

- We have learned that there is endless potential and creativity for how to remind and compel our neighbors and that idea-sharing and networking is the best way to help everyone involved. We will do our part by adding resources and ideas to the website, and we ask you to share your ideas, and to share what did work and what did not so we can all learn from each other's experiences.

This is a new way of approaching an age-old problem. We are so grateful for and humbled by your willingness to join us in the mission to see our community fed and cared for, and your willingness to learn with us and figure out the best possible ways to carry out the mission of "engaging and mobilizing the people of our community to feed the people of Dakota County."

Reminder ideas
(if you have any questions about where to find templates or supplies, please feel free to contact us)
Canned food wrapped in a reminder
Bag with reminder note attached, left on door handles day before pick up
Stickers for people to mark their calendars
Yard signs (re-usable)
E-mail reminders
Magnets with pick up dates printed on them
Postcards with the word "tomorrow"

Please share with us what YOU have learned...