Food for Empowerment- Become an Food Pantry Volunteer

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Volunteers in these shifts will help move food from the food pallets to cart and from the carts to the pantry when it arrives at our office. They will also help organize the pantry and move food items between rooms in preparation for distribution and on occasions they might help conduct client intake or update their contact information. We need physically fit volunteers able to work in teams and lift packages that are between 10 to 50 pounds heavy.

Help combat hunger in underserved communities! Many of our clients, who receive this and other survival services from us, stay connected to the organization and involved in community activities that tackle issues affecting their communities. Volunteer as you gain knowledge of community organizing and what providing survival services do to the empowerment of our clients; volunteer along clients in a dynamic environment and in an organization with a long history of organizing and community empowerment.

Wednesday Shift Tasks: accepting and unloading food from the donation truck to our pantry; keeping all shelves and workstations clean, debris-free, organized, well-stocked, and properly rotated; assisting the food pantry staff by bagging cans, fresh produce, and other food items; heavy Lifting- ability to lift 10 lbs up to 50 lbs.

Volunteer tasks include but are not limited to:

• Unloading the food truck upon arrival
• Moving boxes of food to the distribution area, in between rooms in the office, and moving frozen food between the truck and the freezers.
• Clean/organizing the pantry spaces and making food packages for food distribution
• Distributing food to community members
• When applicable, entering clients’ data into our system (training included)

Requirements: Our volunteers come from diverse backgrounds and experiences. It is most important to us that participants align with our mission and vision and have a strong desire to support and work with our immigrant communities. Willingness to learn, great teamwork, communication skills, and an enthusiastic commitment to supporting immigrants will be required from all volunteers. Screening and application materials as well as orientation and training will be provided and required from all our volunteers.

• Ability to lift heavy objects (cans and other food items) up to approx 50 lbs
• Reliable, Responsible, and Trustworthy
• Patient and with a good sense of humor
• Great team player
• Highly motivated and willing to help
• 18 years of age or above

Desired but not required:

• Bilingual (Spanish-English)
• Bilingual (Mandarin/Cantonese-English)