History of the Attempt

The record, the Largest Food Drive in 24 Hours at a Single Location, is currently held by the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, North Carolina and was beaten on March 5, 2011. However, the making of this world record began twelve years before the current holders broke it. 

 

In 1999, 1400 students of San Mateo High School in California collected non perishable food items for the poor and the homeless of their county. They collected the food over a fourteen day period and applied to the world record agency to create a world record specifically for the largest food drive. The agency determined that a new record could be acreated, however, the standards of this record would be changed to its now official name: Largest Food Drive in 24 Hours - Single Location - Single Location - By Non Charitable Organizations. The record in this new category would not be set until 2004 when the "4-H Can Make a Difference" food drive collected 1,878.5 pounds of food in Decatur, Illinois. 

 

Then in 2005, their record was exceeded by "Thunder in the Valley" located in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania. Their food drive collected 156,889 pounds of food. Residents of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada gathered 221,028.9 pounds of food in 2006. 2007 brought the next organization to break this record in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada when 388,381 pounds of food was collected. In Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 7,000 church volunteers organized a food drive that would break the record again, this time raising 509,147 pounds in 2008. The record crossed over the United States-Canda border in 2010 when the STadium Centennial Foundation in Tacoma, Washington raised 515,067.5 pounds of food. 

 

The current record holders raised 559,885 pounds of food in just 18 hours on March 5, 2011. The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, North Carolina managed to raise 300 times the amount collected by the first record holders. 

 

The legacy of this record continues, however, this record will soon be broken again and the date that it will be is May 26, 2013 when Food for Freedom, our organization, will raise substantial amounts of food in a small city in Wisconsin named Fond du Lac. With your help we will break this record and we will be the history written on this page. 

Record Attempt Guidelines

GUIDELINES FOR 'LARGEST FOOD DRIVE BY A NON CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION (24 HR) - SING. LOCA.

The record for the largest food drive by a non charitable organization is based on the total amount of weight collected in 24 hours. 

  1. All food items donated must be non perishable e.g. canned soup, canned vegetables, canned fruits, dried pasta, etc.
  2. Food items must be within their expiry dates and must not be damaged in any way that affects their suitability for consumption.
  3.  The items must be collected at one location throughout the attempt.
  4. Any monetary donations specific to the record attempt's collection must be used to buy food before the final count if they are to be incorporated in the total weight of food drive items. 
  5. The weight of the packaged food collected must be accurately measured and recorded by independent witnesses during the 24 hour period. Each witness must state exactly how much weight of food was collected and measured during his or her shift during the attempt. 
  6. A log of weights measured must be kept by the independent witnesses during each shift so that a total weight can be confirmed at the conclusion of the collecting process. The final two witnesses must attest to the exact final total collected during the 24 hours. 

 

GENERAL 'MOST...IN 24 HOURS GUIDELINES' GUIDELINES

  • The name of the organization, company or person(s) making the attempt must be given, along with the date and place. 
  • The event must take place in a public place or in a venue open to public inspection. 
  • The event is continuous. The clock does not stop. 24 hours means a complete 24-hour cycle including rest breaks. For example, if the event starts at 12 noon on Monday, it must finish at 12 noon on Tuesday. 
  • The clock must not stop at any time for any reason. 
  • A loud start and finish signal recognized by all participants must be used. 
  • Two experienced timekeepers (e.g. from a local athletics club) must time the attempt with stopwatches accurate to 0.01 seconds. 

 

Note: The information on this page was copied exactly from the World Record Agency Original Guideline Packet.