Charity Sale Tables

A ten year old girl at our school suggested the most effective method yet to get food for charity. Volunteers staff a table at the store entrance, and ask shoppers to take items from the table to buy with their purchase for the local food pantry. Children also stand by the collection bin at the exit door and thank shoppers as they make their donations.

Please talk to your local store manager to give it a try--it is a great activity for a family, Scout group, sports team, Sunday School class, school class, neighborhood group, etc.

How to set up a Sale table at your store:

Call your store manager to ask to do this and set a date. Ask them to provide an empty table and a few chairs INSIDE the entrance of the store.

Arrive 30 minutes before the sale is to start and set up the table, stock it with food items appropriate for charity that do not require coupons, and sell! Organizations should wear something to identify who they are (uniforms, t-shirts, hats, nametags, etc.).

The most successful groups pre-order cases of food from the store manager 4-5 days before the event.  The highest number of items sold by a Georgia Cub Scout pack was 1,500 items per store, staffed from 9 am to 6 pm on a Saturday. One Cub Scout pack staffed 2 stores and raised 3,000 food items. Ask the manager to order a few hundred jars of peanut butter, cans of tuna, canned pasta sauce or whatever items your local charity needs that week.  Check to see what the lowest prices are for each item that week and order that brand (typically, the store brand is the lowest price without using grocery coupons).

Do not have more than 6-8 students per store, or it can be disruptive. You only need 2-4 students and 2 adults per shift (1-2 hours). If you have a large group, you can staff a table all day, or staff a few stores at a time. If possible, have information about your food pantry available to distribute to interested shoppers.

Put items on the table, with an index card showing the price. Make a simple sign to tape on the front of the table. Our signs say:

"Please buy food to help ____________ (name of charity)"
1. Select items.
2. Purchase with your grocery order.
3. Place items in the collection bin by the register after your purchase.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!

This is our opening line to shoppers: "Good morning! Today we are selling food to help feed the hungry in our community. You can help for as little as 25 cents!" We explain the process and who will be receiving the food. Be sure to tell shoppers to take the item from the sale table, purchase it with their order, and put the item(s) in the collection bin (or shopping basket used as a collection bin) by the registers.

Some shoppers think they need to purchase the item at your table; simply review the directions on your sign to clarify the process. The most wonderful part is actually delivering the groceries to your charity.