Organizations Rally to Score Big for Operation Feed!

2011 was an extraordinary year for Operation Feed!  Campaigns—ranging from companies large and small to media-sponsored initiatives and grassroots community events—navigated some tough terrain to score many goals this season, proving once again that Mid-Ohio Foodbank’s community drive is truly a “team” effort.  Each group found a unique way to raise food and funds, showing that when everyone does a little, the Foodbank can do a lot!

The Strategic Recruitment and Retention committee stepped up to the plate to provide guidance and leadership in recruiting new talent, and because of this teamwork and determination, Operation Feed saw 80 new organizations signing on!  This campaign season saw a record 232 organizations participating in this community-wide drive with a total of 4,250,000 meals raised toward alleviating hunger in central and eastern Ohio. 

The season came to a close on August 25th,  with a victory party at The Ohio Union to celebrate the successes of this year’s campaign and recognize all those who helped make Operation Feed a success!  To learn more about this year’s effort, view our finale program and photos from the finale event.

Twenty awards were presented to Outstanding Campaign Champions:

• Bob Evans Farms, Most Meals per Capita (250-999 employees). With email subject lines like “I’m Hungry” and activities including super snacks day and a super games day featuring corn hole, tug-of-war, a dunk tank and prize drawing, Bob Evans Farms raised the most meals per capita for a company in its category.  Their enthusiasm and employee involvement helped generate 145 meals per employee.
• Columbus FLEA, Outstanding Community Partner.  When Columbus FLEA organizer, Nikki Portman, visited the eclectic open-air markets of New York City, she immediately wanted to bring that vibrant sense of community back to Columbus. What began last summer as a one-day event featuring locals selling a wide variety of handmade jewelry, artwork, vintage clothing, unique crafts, foods and much more has blossomed into a series of seasonal FLEAs that has already this year raised more 5,600 meals for Operation Feed.
• Commerce National Bank, **Award of Excellence. This year, Commerce National Bank appointed team leaders for their Operation Feed competition.  Each group organized activities which included a breakfast, pop & popcorn sale, a bake sale, a 50-50 drawing and an ice cream social.  Weekly communications helped enhance the spirit of competition, and CNB raised over 4,800 meals – a 118% increase and 60 meals per associate.
• Community Shelter Board, **Award of Excellence. Some of the activities that Community Shelter Board used to raise meals included penny wars, e-bingo, a drawing for a day off and a baked potato bar.  Their goal was to raise 1,320 meals, which they far exceed by raising 2,000 meals – 100 per staff member and a 62% increase over 2010.
• EXPRESS, Largest Percentage Increase (250 – 999 employees). Dividing into teams for a competition proved successful for EXPRESS.  Competition, along with very creative awards – including a Golden Can Award presented to the “fiercest competitor” – (the team collecting the most food) helped them raise over 16,000 meals – a 214% increase over 2010 efforts.
• Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens, Largest Percentage Increase (1 – 249 employees), **Award of Excellence. Recognizing that many families visit over the Memorial Day Weekend, Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens, decided that this was an opportunity to give back to the community.  They organized an effort to collect donations for Operation Feed during Memorial Day weekend and raised over 5,000 meals, a 156% increase over 2010 that represented 285 meals per employee.
• Germain Lexus of Dublin, *Outstanding New Campaign. When approached by a member of the Kitchen Cabinet inviting them to get involved in Operation Feed, Germain Lexus of Dublin used an existing activity to give back to the community.  Each week during the month of May, Germain’s “Lunch With Libby” involved a food drive competition between dealerships.   Each was asked to “pay it forward” with a donation to Operation Feed, and the dealership with the most donations would be the winner of the competition.  This first-year effort raised 9,700 pounds of food, and Germain donated another 300 for an even 10,000 pounds!
• KD Yoder & Associates, Most Meals Per Capita (1 – 249 employees), **Award of Excellence.  Because they are a small company, KD Yoder involves their entire neighborhood in their campaign, inviting neighbors to participate in a cookout.  Vendors, distributors and clients are also involved through donations of food, prizes and money.   By getting so many people to participate, KD Yoder raised over 4,200 meals – a 113% increase over their total from last year – and 857 meals per employee!
• Mount Carmel Health Systems, Largest Percentage Increase (1000 or more employees). Mount Carmel Health Systems also used team competition to increase their donations to Operation Feed.  Teams vied for a “Serving from the Heart” award and increased their campaign efforts by 42%.
• Nationwide, Most Meals Per Capita (1000 or more employees), **Award of Excellence.   Perennial favorites like their golf outing, a car show, duck races & fun days, along with popcorn sales and many more activities, helped Nationwide realize another outstanding campaign effort. It can be said that Operation Feed is part of their culture – proven by their 113,000 meal increase and per capita giving of 137 meals.
• Nationwide Children’s Hospital,  Director’s Choice Award. Faced with the challenge of a change in campaign leadership, Nationwide Children’s Hospital created a committee that includes a chair and co-chair, giving the organization a more sustainable campaign leadership model.  The committee had huge success helping raise over 184,000 meals, making them our 4th largest campaign.  Best of all, they have a structure in place and are enthusiastic to get started on next year’s campaign!
• The Ohio Hospital Association, **Award of Excellence. By dividing into teams, spirited competition and peer to peer challenges demonstrated an employee desire to exceed their goal: The Ohio Hospital Association raised over 3,000 meals.  Rumor has it that there were even some side bets among VP’s.  When all was said and done, they raised 62 meals per associate and increased their campaign by 83%.
• The Ohio State University, Outstanding Virtual Food Drive. It is often difficult for an organization as large as The Ohio State University to engage everyone in the campaign.  This year, the coordinator at OSU decided to emphasize the use of the virtual food drive to overcome some of the barriers created by their size.  They collected over $13,000 – 26,000 of their 121,0000 meals – using this tool,  earning the “Outstanding Virtual Food Drive” award.
• Park National Bank,**Award of Excellence. Competition between work groups to tap into pride and department cohesion helped Park National Bank raise over 5,000 meals.  Each group had a week to organize its meal-raising activities, and the losing group was tasked with providing breakfast for the office.  Activities including a bake sale, sports pools, miniature office goals and a dart tournament helped them raise 117 meals per capita and increase their total meals raised by 60%.
• State Auto Insurance Companies, **Award of Excellence. State Auto utilized executive-sponsored teams and events like Penny Wars, cupcake wars, raffles and rubber band archery to help add to team scores.  The winning team got boasting rights and a trophy to display until next year’s campaign, prompting some last minute strategy sessions by the executives.  This spirit of competition helped State Auto raise over 56,000 meals, 62 meals per employee and a 90% increase over 2010!
• Time Warner Cable, Director’s Choice Award . Each year, the engineers at Time Warner Cable organize their organization’s Operation Feed campaign.  They start their day of activities with a breakfast for engineers and contractors at their Interchange Dr. location, then move to their Olentangy River Road offices for a lunch and fun day.  For years, this group has worked hard to raise meals for hungry people and we’d like to recognize them for their dedication to Operation Feed.
• WBNS 10TV and the Wolfe Companies, **Award of Excellence. 10TV decided to take a new approach to its participation in Operation Feed in 2011.  In lieu of the annual Food Parade, they put a focus on the issue of hunger presenting “One Paycheck Away: 10TV Dedicates the Day to Hunger." This documentary coupled with a telethon, raised nearly 93,000 meals and included partnerships with The Kroger Company and El Vaquero.  This represents a 132% increase over 2010 and an additional 52,000 meals raised.

The following organizations were selected as finalists in the Rally to Tally Photo Contest, and congratulations to United Commercial Travelers who campaign finale attendees chose as the lucky winner (click on photos for larger image): 

	Costume Contest Showdown to End Hunger: United Commercial Travelers (UCT) employees voted throughout their campaign week for one lucky member of the Senior Management team they wanted to see wear a food inspired costume. The contest ended in a tie and both dressed up! The enthusiasm and generosity of UCT employees raised $481 for Operation Feed through this event.
	Food collected by the IT department at EXPRESS (winners of the 2011 Golden Can Award) actually reached the ceiling!
	"Everywhere you look, there WE are". . . even during a pancake breakfast at the corporate offices to raise funds for the OhioHealth Operation Feed campaign. Pictured are Dave Blom, President and CEO, Sue Jablonski, Sr. Vice-President and Chief Communications Officer and Operation Feed committee members.
	Yoga Outreach Columbus hosted a yoga class that gathered two hundred yoga fans. The yoga event held April 3 raised more than $3000 for three different charities (one of which was Operation Feed!).

  55 organizations were recognized for contributing at the ***Benchmark level in 2011:

A Moment In Time Studio   ♦   Alliance Data   ♦   Anthem Life
Aveda Institute Columbus   ♦   Baker Hostetler   ♦   Benchmark Bank
Berliner Action Team for Sports (B.A.T.S)   ♦   Cakes for a Cause   ♦   Cameron Mitchell Restaurants
Carlile Patchen & Murphy LLP   ♦  Century Insurance Group     
Champion Window Company of Columbus LLC  ♦   Clean Fuels Ohio
Columbus FLEA   ♦   Commerce National Bank   ♦   Community Shelter Board
CompManagement Partner Companies   ♦   Conference Center at NorthPointe   ♦   Crawl for Cancer 
The Dispatch Printing Company   ♦   Donatos Pizzeria Corp.   ♦   ELEVATE Thinking
EXPRESS  ♦  Franklin International  ♦  Germain Lexus of Columbus  ♦   Hahn Loeser + Parks LLP
Hand & Hand Residential Services, Inc.   ♦   ITT Technical Institute—Columbus   ♦  JC Penney Company
 JC Penney Outlet  ♦   KD Yoder & Associates  ♦  Kaplan College
Karpinski Engineering   ♦   Kid’s Company Performing Group, Ltd.   ♦   Kumon of Upper Arlington North
Levy & Associates, LLC   ♦   MAPFRE Insurance   ♦   McGraw-Hill (Blacklick Facility)
Motorists Insurance   ♦   Nationwide   ♦   Nationwide Children’s Hospital
North Central Mental Health Services  ♦   OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc.
The Ohio Hospital Association   ♦   The Ohio State University  
One Paycheck Away: 10TV Dedicates the Day to Hunger  ♦   Peerless Saw Company
Plumbers & Pipefitters LU 189   ♦   Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, LLC
Quantum Health   ♦    Rexnord Industries, LLC  ♦  Safelite AutoGlass
Schneider Downs & Co., Inc.   ♦    The School Employees Retirement System
Sears Logistics—Columbus DDC   ♦  SegAway of Columbus   ♦  Shepherd Christian School/Little Lamb
Southwestern City Schools ESL Class   ♦  Southwestern Interact Club   ♦  State Auto Insurance Companies
Sunset Cemetery  ♦  Time Warner Cable   ♦  Towlift Inc.
TS Tech North America, Inc.   ♦  United Commercial Travelers   ♦  United Way of Central Ohio
Upper Arlington High School Student Council.   ♦ UPS—Columbus Payroll ASC
Village of New Albany.   ♦  Zumba® Fitness with Melissa 

 

* Outstanding New Campaign is selected based on one or more of the following: meals per capita, leadership involvement, creative strategy.

** Award of Excellence winners meet two of three criteria: 50 meals per capita, a 40 percent increase, a 25,000 meal increase.

*** Benchmark level contributors have successfully reached goals suggested by program staff,
based on average Operation Feed campaign meals raised per capita.