The stark images and flooding left by Hurricane Harvey inspired many people of goodwill to give generously. At St. James Catholic Church, where I worked at the time, we provided an opportunity for the parish and its surrounding community to participate in a food drive. The project came together very quickly. Harvey hit Texas on Friday, August 25. Our food drive was the main topic of the parish leadership meeting the following Monday, local ads were published on Thursday, August 31, and we officially announced the effort to the parish on via email on Friday, September 1.
My responsibilities included serving as the key staff contact, producing graphics, coordinating the paid print and Facebook advertising campaign and banner production, collaborating with colleagues on the press release for the diocese communications office to distribute, and photographing the food drive from the truck’s arrival on September 1 through its final day on campus, September 10. My amazing colleagues and our outstanding volunteer coordinator made this effort both rewarding and fun. The parish and local community combined to send over 10,000 pounds of food to a food bank in Southeast Texas, and we were also able find homes for donations that did not fit the relief efforts.
Social Media:
Select Twitter posts
FOOD DRIVE! Spread the word and get the list! Our special second collection for #Harvey will be September 9-10. https://t.co/BNfn85yoop pic.twitter.com/PV6znGgXgn
— St James Catholic (@St_James_CC) August 30, 2017
We took the food drive truck on a test drive but it's back on campus – let's stuff it full! https://t.co/Si1rh16UdX pic.twitter.com/p1tnYlWSwm
— St James Catholic (@St_James_CC) September 9, 2017
Our picnic on Sunday is free and fun – let's fill the tables and the truck! Bring a donation for the food drive. https://t.co/hGfVhjA3eV pic.twitter.com/SSr6kuqyMF
— St James Catholic (@St_James_CC) September 7, 2017
The truck arrived in Texas today! https://t.co/PfT4XSIKeu
— St James Catholic (@St_James_CC) September 13, 2017
Select Facebook posts
The pastor posted this text on his personal profile as well:
I provided the pictures and details to the diocesan social media coordinator for this post:
Parish outreach:
St. James Website – in addition to the now defunct Harvey Relief section, we included the drive in a news article and a front page banner link.
Emails: On September 1 and September 6, the food drive was the lead topic.
Press coverage:
Other coverage:
Two teenage volunteers on our project received a mention on Durable Human: