Developing an organic and authentic community feel is one way to retain residents of any community. When residents feel as though they’re a part of something bigger than themselves, they embrace the camaraderie and the family that develops. At OccupancySolutions.com we have creative and impactful ideas for creating this community feeling in a genuine and meaningful way.

With the holidays quickly approaching, getting together to give back is one way to band the community together for the greater good of your area. It encourages your community to come out, get together, and get those “warm and fuzzy” feelings going. One simple way to do this in any community is with a community food drive. Food pantries and charity organizations are often in need of resources during this important time of year, as they try to reach their communities with the foods they need to celebrate throughout both Thanksgiving and the Christmas season.

Hosting a community food drive in your community is simple. First, you’ll want to select a charitable organization in your area to donate to. This can be chosen by the community management team, or it could be put to a vote for community residents to choose. If your community has a social media group, a community newsletter, or an e-mail chain, management teams can propose a selection of local charities for the food drive to allow community members to vote.

Once your recipient organization is chosen, it’s time to decide how you’re going to collect donations for the food drive. One idea is to have a chosen and designated drop-off day, which is beneficial if you’re planning to have any sort of community events during the fall season. A harvest festival, a block party, a movie under the stars, or a pumpkin carving contest is also a perfect opportunity to set up a designated food drop-off day.

If you’d rather have a food drive over the course of a handful of days, you can set up designated drop boxes at drop-off points where residents can leave food throughout the donation drive period. This may be the preferable option if you have a community office, clubhouse, or other protected indoor community space.

When residents come together to give back, you can strengthen the foundation of your authentic community feel. To learn more about building an organic community feel, contact us at OccupancySolutions.com today.