Volunteer

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with the Vermont Foodbank! Here are some of the opportunities we have:

 

**Featured Volunteer Opportunity**

Warehouse Help Needed (Barre) - sort and process food with us on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays!
 

Administrative (Barre and Brattleboro)

Assist with filing, mailings, data entry and other projects as needed. Answer the main phone Iine and welcome visitors.

 

Distribution and delivery (statewide)

Travel to specific locations to help distribute boxes of food to individuals and families.

  

Gleaning (statewide) 

Harvesting of produce from farms. Requires working in the fields and various weather conditions. This opportunity is seasonal. Our most active gleaning efforts are in the Lamoille Valley region and the greater Brattleboro area which are coordinated out of our Wolcott and Brattleboro facilities.   We occasionally have gleaning opportunities in other areas as well.

 

Groundswork (Barre)

Assist with landscaping and general yard maintenance, mulching, weeding, etc.

 

Food sorting/packing (Barre)

Work in the warehouse to pack food, prepare back packs and sort through salvage groceries.

 

Special events (statewide)

We have many events off-site including Harpoon Point to Point, the Hunger Action Conference, Stowe Wine and Food Classic, and the Magic Hat Oktoberfeast.  Duties vary from registration to cleaning/setting up.

 

Volunteer leadership (statewide)

Train as a leader to assist staff in supporting warehouse volunteer groups.

 

We have several opportunities especially designed for groups:

 

Community Repack (Barre and, by appointment,in Brattleboro) 
Each week day from 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., volunteers gather in our warehouse to sort and re-pack food, or pack boxes for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) in the warehouse. For groups of 10 or more, we are happy to arrange volunteer time on Tuesday and Thursday between 9:00 am and 3:30 p.m. We are also open for groups until 8:00 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month. Volunteers in the warehouse must be 16 or older, or 14 or 15 if accompanied by an adult.

Saturday Sort-a-thons (Barre and, by appointment,in Brattleboro)
On designated Saturdays, Sort-a-thons are held at the Foodbank from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Volunteers may sort, re-pack or build CSFP boxes in the warehouse, or even help prepare occasional mailings. Volunteers must be 14 or 15 years old and accompanied by an adult, or 16 years and older to work in the warehouse.  Please contact volunteer program services at (800) 585-BANK or volunteer@vtfoodbank.org to sign up for a specific Sort-a-thon.

 

Upcoming Saturday Sort-a-thons:

May 11 - Full
June 8 - Full
September 14
September 28
October 12
October 26
November 9
November 23
December 7
December 21

Children under 14 years of age are not permitted to volunteer at the Foodbank and cannot be present during volunteer events due to insurance restrictions. If a group of school age children wish to come to the Foodbank to learn about the work we do, take a tour, and talk about age appropriate ways to become involved, please contact Patrick Gilbert at 802-477-4127 or volunteer@vtfoodbank.org to make those arrangements. 

To volunteer with the Vermont Foodbank, please fill out one of the Vounteer Applications (click here).

 

If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Baptiewright at 802-477-4115 or volunteer@vtfoodbank.org.

 

NOTE: The Vermont Foodbank is now a member of Onion River Exchange (ORE).  To learn more about this program and how you and the Foodbank can benefit, visit ORE on the web at http://www.orexchange.org/