Join our volunteer team

Apply as an individual

or as a family

Request a group volunteer event

information below

*We are full for group volunteering until February! We have other options to get involved however! Due to extra demand of food this time of year we are needing more food to stock our shelves. If you would like to host a food drive and deliver to us that is one option for group volunteering, call (206) 523-7060 Ext. 705 for more info. Please submit a request to host in a few months or check back in February 2023!

Thank you for your interest!

Thank you for your interest in volunteering at our Food Bank! Volunteers help to distribute food to our customers 6 days a week Monday-Saturday. We have a few different roles and many different ways to get involved with the distribution of food to our neighbors. You can read through the roles that are currently available at the food bank and apply below!

*Please note we are still requiring volunteers to be fully vaccinated against covid (not including boosters) and to wear masks while volunteering.

Shifts and Roles at the Food Bank
Front of House      

Good skills for these roles: Customer service skills, someone who loves interacting with people!

Greeter: Manages the line of customers that are waiting to come into the food bank. Welcomes them, answers any questions, and allows a certain number of customers in to shop to allow for capacity, gives sheets to those who want someone to shop for them, hand out sandwiches and to-go bags.

Check in volunteer: Checks in customers into our intake database, gives them a shopping card, and answers any questions customers have. This role is sitting and working with a computer.

Check-out volunteer: Helps bag up customer groceries and check limits that are allowed based on their shopping cards, double bagging bags, and sanitizing. This role is standing.

Stocker: Goes back and forth between the warehouse (Back of house) area and the shopping store and stocks items that are low.

    Monday     Tuesday    Wednesday    Thursday     Friday     Saturday
  8am- 11am     8am-11am 8am 10:30pm    8am-11am
  10:45am-1pm    10:45am-1pm    11am- 2pm    11am- 1pm   10:45 am- 2pm
12:45pm- 4pm     12:45pm- 3pm    12:45pm- 3pm    1:45pm- 5pm
    2:45pm- 6pm    2:45pm- 6pm    5pm- 7pm
    5:45pm- 7:45pm    5:45pm- 7:45pm

These shifts get started with 15 minutes overlap from the previous shift to allow a handoff of volunteers and any information that needs to be passed on from food bank floor manager before the start of your shift.

Back of House   

Includes: Sorting pallets of donations including produce, deli, dairy and other items. Repackaging bulk items; Receiving donations; Breaking down and recycling cardboard; Bagging up produce like apples, potatoes and onions; Clean-up of warehouse; Sanitizing work spaces; Double bagging paper bags.

   Monday    Tuesday   Wednesday    Thursday       Friday       Saturday 
  8am-11am   8am- 12pm   8am- 11am   8am- 12pm   10am-12pm   9am-11:00am
  11am- 1pm   12pm- 3pm   11am- 2pm   12pm- 3pm    12pm-2pm  11:00am- 1pm
   1pm- 4pm     3pm- 6pm     3pm- 6pm     2pm- 5pm 12:30am-2pm
    6pm- 8pm     6pm- 8pm

Home Delivery Program Drivers:

Home Delivery Drivers support no-contact deliveries of bags and boxes of food to our neighbors who are disabled or otherwise homebound. Routes are usually about 7-8 stops and take about anywhere from 1 1/2- 2 hours. The routes are grouped in certain geographic areas in our service area (Green lake, U district, Sandpoint, etc.). This is a great way to get to know the neighborhood you live in better. You may have neighbors in need you might not even know about! We deliver Wednesdays and Saturdays and often need substitute home delivery drivers.

Requirements: Have your own vehicle. Being able to lift 40 pounds is good for this role. Must be able to pass a background check.

We very are in need of sub drivers for the home delivery program! If you are able to be on a sub list and drive  a delivery route once in a while, please sign up by checking the box in your application. Emails go out each week. We’d love to have you!

Grocery Rescue:

Grocery Rescue is what we call going out to our neighborhood grocery stores to pick up (or rescue!) donations that have been set aside for us. This one major way we stock our shelves at the food bank! We have volunteers that go out in their own vehicles to collect from stores, or volunteers that do shifts riding along with a staff member in a UDFB vehicle to pick up donations. There is lifting of about 40 pound at times in these roles.

Grocery Rescue Volunteers with Cars: Please let us know your preferred day and vehicle size and we will try to match you to a store. This will be a weekly pick-up that generally takes an hour or so. Vehicle and ability to lift 40lbs are required. This role is great to see how the food system works to stock our shelves at the food bank!

Grocery Rescue ride Along Volunteer:

This volunteer will ride along with a staff grocery rescue driver in our food bank vehicle and assist with picking up from local grocery stores donations.  This is a fun way to see how we stock our shelves and how our community partners support us. There is some heavy lifting of about 40 lbs with this role.

Rooftop Roots Farm Volunteers:   Update: CLOSED FOR CONSTRUCTION! We are getting beautiful new beds built, and will reopen in the spring or summer 🙂 We will notify in our volunteer portal when shifts are available!

Volunteers support operations up on our Rooftop Farm. Includes: harvesting, planting, weeding, other farm projects. Using the link below, you can sign up to volunteer in the garden.

Did you know that we need more than 500 volunteers each week to keep our community well fed?

With just a 3 hour commitment each week, you will make an important difference in the lives of our neighbors.

Ready to volunteer? Here’s how: 

  1. For all individuals and families (non-groups), please complete this volunteer application. 
  2.  You should receive an automatic confirmation of your application. Many times this email goes to spam. If you mark this email ‘not spam’ you should receive future onboarding emails from us.
  3. Within a week or so, you will receive a welcome email when we are ready to start the process! Follow the instructions in the welcome email and schedule your first shift with our volunteer coordinator. There will be an online orientation video and an in-person food bank walk through with a Q&A before your first shift. Please allow at least 2 weeks for your application to be processed before reaching out.
  4. Watch all designated training videos and attend the in person orientation. Set up your volunteer portal and self schedule your first shifts!
  5. Welcome to the team! Have fun, make friends and make a difference in your community!

Volunteers help us:

  • rescue food from local businesses
  • unload food deliveries
  • sort rescued food to ensure that only safe and healthy options are distributed
  • ensure that our shelves remain full and well stocked during open hours of distribution
  • pack up bags of groceries when our customers finish their shopping
  • deliver food to homebound seniors so they can remain well nourished
  • raise the funds we need to feed our community
  • advocate for strong policies to affirm our community values and protect our neighbors struggling to meet their basic needs
  • guide our strategic direction to ensure that we are responsible stewards and effectively meeting our community’s need for food
  • succeed at our mission and serve our community with dignity and respect

Are you a middle or high school student wanting to volunteer?

We accept volunteers under 18! Ages 13-18 are welcome to volunteer on thier own with parental permission. But those 12 and under must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Need volunteer hours for community service or high school or college hours?

We have spots for you and get you in!

Submit an application, make sure to indicate that you need hours, how many, and when they are due,  and we will get back to you with a good fit. Please be sure to bring any documentation you need signed with you or request a letter by email at the end of your service. Please note that we are unable to accept community service hours for violent offenses.

Group volunteers! 

We’d love to host your group! Please note we are a smaller food bank and we are unable to accommodate groups larger than 15 people.

For more information, or to schedule group volunteering please send a direct email to volunteer@udistrictfoodbank.org to inquire about availability.

Please include:

Group name/organization:

Number of volunteers expected:

What you hope to get out of your volunteer experience with us:

Days and times you may be available:

We will get back to you if we can match you with an opportunity!

Standing times we have for groups at the food bank are Fridays 5-7pm and Saturday 2:00-4:00pm. Some Sunday’s available on request.

We may be able to work with you to find another time that could work to host your group. But if you can make the two times listed please let us know in your email.

Please note, we are unable to accommodate volunteer numbers of more than 15 people. For numbers larger than 15 people, there are other extremely helpful and supportive ways you can get involved with our food bank.

We are always in need of food and supplies! You can host a food drive with your group outside of local stores or ask for donations in your office or neighborhood, host a hygiene supplies drive, collect handled paper bags, and much more. Please inquire for more information about these options or support you may need to take this task on. Past groups have tabled outside of Trader Joe’s, PCC and Safeway stores. The food is then dropped off at the food bank at the end of the drive. This uber important support helps keep our shelves stocked and provides variety.