Assist with Food Distribution at the Red Cross Food Pantry

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** Please be sure to sign-up on OneBrick.org for this opportunity here: https://onebrick.org/node/2416475 **

EVENT DESCRIPTION:

The American Red Cross works to provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. The Boston Food Pantry provides a 3-day supply of emergency food to 4,500 low-income clients per month. Join other One Brick volunteers to help out at one of our most popular and impactful volunteer events!

WHAT WE'LL BE DOING:

• Distributing food to clients, including loading food bags into client cars if applicable or loading food bags onto tables for clients walking to pick-up
• Assemble approximately 1500 food bags with perishable food items for distribution day.
• Translating for our pantry clients during pantry hours - Cantonese, Mandarin, Creole, Russian,
• Portuguese, Vietnamese, and Spanish.
• Data entry on mobile devices.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:

Volunteer expectations:

• Ability to lift 25 lbs. and stand for 3+hours
• Dressing "comfortably but respectably." Open-toed shoes/sandals are not appropriate dress in the food
• pantry.
• Dress warmly as much of the activity is outdoors.
• Ability to take direction willingly and to work comfortably in a diverse environment

COVID Information:

Effective January 15, the Red Cross is requiring all onsite volunteers to be fully vaccinated in order to volunteer. All individuals that come to the pantry will need to show either:

a CDC vaccination card a digital image of their CDC card an image of any official immunization record, or proof of vaccination through a COVID vaccine verification app. Volunteers will only need to show this the first time they come to the pantry as we will be keeping a record of all vaccinated volunteers.

Bring a mask and ARC has plenty of hand sanitizer laying around.

NOTE: Unfortunately this event is not wheelchair accessible. We do our best to ensure as many events as possible are accessible. The nonprofit can accommodate volunteers who can do light lifting, counting, and sorting. If you have specific questions in this area, please contact the event manager.

WHERE TO MEET:

Volunteers are expected to arrive at the Boston Food Pantry at 8:00. Please note there are limited parking spaces behind the Red Cross Food Pantry. Please note the entrance to the Food Pantry is on Proctor Street while the street address is on Massachusetts Avenue.

By MBTA - the pantry is about a 15 minute walk from the Andrew Red Line Station. The Newmarket Commuter Rail station on the Fairmount Line is a 4 minute walk. Additionally, MBTA buses 8 and 10 stop right nearby at 1010 Massachusetts Avenue.

AMERICAN RED CROSS BOSTON FOOD PANTRY: Hunger affects those most vulnerable in our community, especially the very young and the elderly. For those individuals in low-paying jobs or on fixed incomes, difficult choices must be made between paying the rent or mortgage, putting food in the table, or seeking medical care for their children or themselves. The American Red Cross works within the food network, with food distributors and community-based agencies, to coordinate services and develop local solutions to the problem of hunger. Over 125,000 individuals benefit from our program during the year. Our clients include senior citizens, immigrants, single parents, families in transition, homeless individuals, and those living with HIV. Families and individuals from all areas of Boston and New Bedford visit the Pantries once each month to receive at least a three-day supply of nutritionally-balanced groceries. The Pantry also assists clients in applying for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, otherwise known as the Federal Food Stamps. The Boston food pantry provides a 7-day emergency supply of food once a month to low-income clients about 105,000 annually making it one of the largest emergency food pantries in New England.