23rd Annual Central Georgia – Region 5 Cans 4 Kids Campaign
October 1 – December 21, 2026
Campaign season is officially underway — CANS 4 KIDS campaign season, that is!
For 23 years, EMS agencies, healthcare partners, students, community organizations, and friends across Central Georgia and Region 5 have joined together through the EMS for Children Cans 4 Kids Campaign to help meet the needs of families in the communities we serve.
The concept is simple: collect food and other essential items and keep those donations in the communities where they are collected.
Each participating EMS service or community partner chooses the organization, program, or families that will receive its donations.
Build a Campaign Around YOUR Community
Cans 4 Kids has never been about assuming that every community needs the same things.
You know your community. Build your campaign around it.
Talk with your local food banks, food pantries, schools, churches, shelters, Backpack Buddies programs, community organizations, or other partners. Ask what they need most and tailor your collection accordingly.
Depending on your community, that might include:
- Canned foods, particularly cans with pop-tops
- Cereal and oatmeal
- Pasta and rice
- Shelf-stable milk
- Juice boxes or pouches
- Pre-packaged snacks
- Fruit cups
- Baby food or formula
- Diapers and baby wipes
- Paper products
- Hand sanitizer and soaps
- Dish soap
- Toiletries
- Other food or family essentials identified by your local partners
Who Can Participate?
Every licensed EMS service and EMS system partner is invited to participate.
Partner organizations, healthcare organizations, schools, EMS students, Explorer programs, EMR/EMT/AEMT/Paramedic classes, and other community partners are encouraged to get involved as well.
Partnering entities may also align their collection with a licensed EMS agency, allowing those items to count toward the EMS agency’s overall campaign total.
How Do We “Win”?
First and foremost, the community wins every time an EMS agency or partner participates.
But we also enjoy a little friendly competition!
EMS Agency Campaign
Prizes will be awarded to EVERY organization collecting more than 1,000 food and essential items.
In addition, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place EMS agency finishers will be determined using our traditional point system:
Number of cans and essential items collected ÷ Number of ambulances in daily use = Points Awarded
This system allows agencies of different sizes to compete while recognizing the tremendous work being done throughout the region.
EMS Partner & Student Campaign
Prizes will also be awarded to each participating partner organization or class collecting more than 1,000 items.
This may include Explorer, EMR, EMT, AEMT, Paramedic, or other participating student groups and community partners.
C4K Photo Contest
Don’t forget the pictures!
We want to see the people, partnerships, creativity, and fun behind your Cans 4 Kids campaign.
Photo contest recognition will include categories such as:
- Most Heartwarming
- Most Collaborative
- Most Humorous
- Most Innovative
- And more!
Take photos throughout your campaign—not just at the end. Show us your collection boxes, community partnerships, friendly competition, volunteers, students, crews, and the people who make Cans 4 Kids special.
What Do I Need to Submit?
There is no online submission form this year.
To enter your organization’s final campaign results, email your submission to region5rtac@gmail.com no later than December 21, 2026.
Please include:
- Organization/agency name
- County
- Primary contact name
- Contact email address
- Contact phone number
- Total number of food and essential items collected
- Name(s) of the organization(s), program(s), or community recipient(s) receiving your donations
- For EMS agencies competing for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place: number of ambulances in daily use
- For student groups: program/class type and school or sponsoring organization
- Photos from your campaign for the C4K Photo Contest
- A brief description of your campaign, partnerships, special activities, or anything else you would like us to know
If a community partner collected items in partnership with an EMS agency and those items should be included in the agency’s total, please identify the EMS agency in your submission.
Submission Deadline
DECEMBER 21, 2026
Email submissions to:
region5rtac@gmail.com
Let the Campaigning Begin!
No debates. No attack ads. Just a little friendly competition for a very good cause.
We have always maintained that the magic of Region 5 comes from its people. Across Central Georgia, our strength has always been found in the relationships between our responders, healthcare partners, educators, students, community organizations, and the communities we serve.
Despite the challenges that may come our way, somehow, the right people always emerge in the right place, at the right time—ready to step up, work together, and do what needs to be done for the communities we serve.
For 23 years, Cans 4 Kids has given us another opportunity to demonstrate exactly what makes Central Georgia and Region 5 special.
So let’s show them what Region 5 can do.
Rally your team. Recruit your partners. Have a little fun with the competition. Most importantly, find out what your community needs and help meet that need.
Let the campaigning begin!
