Food With a Mission
Restoration Relief has teamed up with Water Street Mission every holiday season since 2017 to support local individuals and families facing hardships. Each year, our objective is to maximize food collections by collaborating with area businesses to establish convenient drop-off locations for community donations. We then utilize our own fleet to transport these items straight to Water Street Mission in time for Thanksgiving. This collaborative effort helps provide nearly 27,000 meals to individuals experiencing homelessness, while also supplying thousands of grocery bags to those who need them most.
Help us achieve our Goal of 13,000 lbs for 2026!
When does Food with a Mission 2026 take place?
The Food Drive will be held this year from November 2 to November 25, 2026. If you’d like to be a drop-off location for donations, sign up below and we’ll help you get started.
What is Water Street Mission?
For over a century, Water Street Mission has been serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness and poverty by providing meals, shelter, recovery programs, and life-changing support.
How can my business become a drop-off location?
One of the easiest and most impactful ways your business can help is by serving as an official Food Drive collection site.
When you sign up below:
✔️ Restoration Relief provides collection boxes
✔️ You choose how many boxes fit your location
✔️ We deliver the boxes directly to your business
✔️ We schedule and handle all pick-ups
✔️ We transport donations directly to Water Street Mission
Most participating businesses start with 2 collection boxes, but if your team fills them quickly, we’ll happily swap them out and provide more.
Once the food drive begins, how do I get the word out?
Once your Drive begins, invite everyone you can to participate:
- Employees and coworkers
- Friends and family
- Customers and clients
- Social media followers
- Community groups and organizations
People often want to help but simply need a reminder. A kickoff announcement, a mid-drive update, and a final reminder can make a huge difference.
Use the communication channels your audience already trusts:
- Company newsletters
- Teams or Slack
- Social media
- Community bulletin boards
- Team meetings and announcements
What the most-needed food items?
Breakfast
● Instant oatmeal (variety packs or plain)
● Pancake mix (boxed)
● Syrup
● Cereal
● Coffee (ground or whole bean)
● Boxes of tea
Pantry Staples
● Peanut butter
● Jelly
● White rice (1 lb. bags)
● Dry beans (1 lb. bags)
● Dry pasta (angel hair and spaghetti preferred)
● Macaroni & cheese (boxed)
● Mashed potatoes (boxed)
Canned Goods
● Canned vegetables (corn & mixed vegetables preferred)
● Canned fruit (peaches, oranges & fruit cocktail preferred)
● Canned beans
● Canned soups
● Canned meats (tuna & chicken)
● Tomato sauce
● Condensed milk
Condiments, Sauces & Seasonings
● Salad dressings
● Condiments (ketchup, mayo, mustard & BBQ sauce)
● Soy sauce
● Lemon & lime juice
● Vinegar (white, apple cider & red wine)
● Seasonings (salt, black pepper, garlic powder, herbs, etc.
Cooking & Baking Essentials
● White & brown sugar (boxed)
● Cooking oil (olive oil preferred)
● Corn starch
I'd like to help but I don't own or manage a business. What can I do?
It’s simple!
Fill a grocery bag with any of the suggested items and bring it to the drop-off location closest to you.
Before donating, please make sure food items are:
✔️ Unopened
✔️ Unexpired
✔️ Preferably not packaged in glass containers
Every donation, no matter the size, helps provide nutritious food to people in our community who need it most.
Where are the drop-off locations?
We’ll add a map to this page with all the drop-off locations before the Drive begins. Stay tuned!
How does the food get to Water Street Mission?
The Restoration Relief team will coordinate a convenient pickup date with your business. Once collected, our fleet delivers the donations directly to Water Street Mission. You collect. We handle the rest.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Donations are officially weighed when they arrive at Water Street Mission, so there’s no need to track pounds during your collection drive.
Impact through the Years
Ready to Make an Impact?
