Texas Food Bank Runs a Virtual Food Drive in Holiday Season

Online shopping carts are playing a new role at the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas, in Austin, which has found a way to make donating over the holidays more like a traditional food drive for its supporters.

The food bank’s Web site gives online visitors pictures of a panoply of groceries to choose—from fruits, vegetables, and chicken to bread, milk, grains, and canned items.

After moving selected items to their online cart, donors click on the “checkout” button to make a credit-card gift equal to the value of grocery items they have chosen.

Food-bank officials hope the new feature will help bring in $300,000 in online donations during December.

It’s a simple concept, but the idea is to give donors an experience that they already expect when they donate canned goods at work or at school, says Aimy Wiley, the food bank’s interactive development manager.

“It’s just communicating that food-drive experience with funds instead of a physical food donation.”