About

What is Operation Food Basket?

Operation Food Basket is an annual campaign to feed hungry families in the Rochester New York metropolitan area during the year end holiday season. This is a critical time of year for many families in our area that do not have sufficient food for the holiday season. Operation Food Basket is a fully integrated campaign including:

Solicitation and collection of cash donations
Interaction with several charitable agencies that screen
and select the families to receive food deliveries
Purchase and packing of food cards for the families
Delivery of the food cards to the families

Who are the people of Operation Food Basket?

Operation Food Basket is supported by over 150 volunteers working on the campaign and over 1100 individuals and organizations that contribute funds. Xerox Employees, contract employees and Xerox retirees throughout Monroe County are the primary participants, however, an increasing number of Partner Organizations also participate significantly (see Operation Food Basket Partners section of this web site).

Operation Food Basket Partners

Operation Food Basket is supported by over 150 volunteers working annually on the campaign and over 1100 individuals and organizations that contribute funds, and the following community partners/organizations:

CaterTrax – cash donation
Hope Ventures – Cash donation
KPMG Employees – Cash donation
Lyons National Bank – Cash donation
Paychex – Cash donation and volunteer
Palmyra-Macedon Rotary – Cash donation and volunteer
Pittsford Rotary – Cash donation
Rochester Area Community Foundation – Cash donation
Ryder Trucking – Transport materials
Wegman Companies Inc. – Cash donation
Wegmans Food Markets – Gift Card Donations
Xerox Foundation / XCIP – Cash grant and matching funds
Xerox Corporation – Volunteers and many support services for the campaign
Xerox Leadership Association – Cash grant and volunteers
City Blue – cash donation
Jain Society of Rochester – cash donation
Datto Global employees – cash donations
American Packaging – gift cards donation
Ann Marie Carlisi Foundation – Cash donation

Campaign goals and key dates

Our goal for this year is to collect $45,000 in donations and provide food cards to 1,363 individuals.

Key dates are:

Fundraising: October 23 to December 13
Recruit volunteers: October 18 to December 7
Distribute food cards to families: December 16-18
Critical Note: This year, due to the pandemic, we will still be completing all aspects of the campaign except that we will be purchasing and delivering grocery gift cards to the families in-need. We deemed it unsafe to follow our usual process of hundreds of volunteers packing food boxes in a closed warehouse environment, delivering 50,000 pounds of food into 300+ homes. The individual families will receive funds sufficient to last one week or more (minimum of 21 meals per person).

How can individuals or organizations get
involved in Operation Food Basket

Donate funds to the campaign this is our greatest need and something you can help with all year long
Volunteer to work on the campaign. See volunteer tab
Individuals and families that would like to receive food baskets may contact the charitable organizations that support Operation Food Basket to see if they qualify (see how to contact Operation Food Basket section of this web site)

Tax deductions for donations

For tax purposes, Operation Food Basket operates as a sub-committee of the House of Mercy in Rochester, New York. The House of Mercy is a certified 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization. Donors will receive tax receipts upon request. If you donate using PayPal please print your receipt.

The History of Operation Food Basket

Operation Food Basket started in 1981 and has been conducted annually since that time. It was started by a Xerox employee, Tony Carlisi who suggested to his fellow employees that the money spent on a $5 holiday grab bag gift exchange could be better used by buying and delivering food to needy families in the Rochester, NY area. Starting with a few dollars and few people, the campaign has grown to hundreds of volunteers who collect donations, buy, pack and deliver food directly to needy families just before Christmas.

The following chart shows the results of the campaign each year since its inception:

Year #	Year	$ Collected	# People receiving food provisions	# Families receiving food provisions	Total pounds of food given to families	Hot meals for homeless funded
1	1981	$195	11	2	283
2	1982	$268	16	3	389
3	1983	$341	20	4	495
4	1984	$414	24	5	601
5	1985	$487	29	6	707
6	1986	$560	33	7	813
7	1987	$633	37	7	919
8	1988	$706	39	8	968
9	1989	$779	43	9	1,068
10	1990	$852	47	9	1,168
11	1991	$925	51	10	1,268
12	1992	$998	55	11	1,368
13	1993	$1,000	53	11	1,299
14	1994	$1,500	79	16	1,948
15	1995	$2,900	153	31	3,767
16	1996	$5,400	231	47	5,703
17	1997	$16,000	800	160	19,744
18	1998	$21,245	1,158	232	28,589
19	1999	$20,716	1,036	207	25,564
20	2000	$18,048	902	180	22,271
21	2001	$25,951	1,298	260	32,024
22	2002	$33,651	1,542	308	38,062
23	2003	$40,837	2,000	357	49,356
24	2004	$53,337	2,682	494	66,182
25	2005	$53,500	2,623	501	64,725
26	2006	$51,903	2,248	459	55,481
27	2007	$53,886	2,565	436	63,304
28	2008	$53,260	2,411	418	59,503
29	2009	$58,721	2,747	514	67,796
30	2010	$55,000	2,637	420	65,081
31	2011	$55,000	2,751	474	66,024
32	2012	$46,937	2,220	408	54,790
33	2013	$50,000	2,500	511	61,700
34	2014	$45,900	2,250	345	55,530
35	2015	$47,500	1,941	318	47,904
36	2016	$50,500	2,497	401	61,626
37	2017	$55,100	2,000	324	39,360	3,000
38	2018	$53,383	1,800	300	44,424	5,000
39	2019	$38,737	1,964	288	48,472	1,000
40	2020	$67,859	1,828	406	45,700	10,000
41	2021	$49,928	1,686	325	41,610	8,500
42	2022	$51,497	1,333	267	32,898
Total		$1,189,804	52,341	9,499	1,291,770	27,500