Have you ever wondered where agencies such as pantries, soup kitchens, congregate meal programs, shelters and nonprofit day-cares get their food supply from? Many of these organizations in our area partner with us to meet their needs. Our partner agencies can shop directly in our Agency Shopping store, located in the Food Bank. We need volunteers like you to stock shelves, assist our agencies, and check/weigh out food. You will get a unique view of how the Food Bank serves people through our various agencies! Project Management volunteers also assist in sorting donations such as fruits, vegetables, bread, and dairy products. Inspect products for quality. Prepare donations to be distributed to individuals and partner agencies.
Many times, getting food once a month is not enough to make ends meet for families in Black Hawk County. The produce pantry is a way to bridge that gap by providing a little extra food every week. For three hours, every Friday, up to 200 clients enter our pantry. This is a fun and fast-paced volunteer experience. If you are looking for one-on-one client interaction while making a difference in the community, sign up for this opportunity today!
The Cedar Valley Food Pantry exists to provide food and grocery products to households in Black Hawk County. Resources provided by the CVFP enable households to stretch their money further. In the last year, the Cedar Valley Food Pantry served approximately 2,400 households each month. Pantry volunteers will help stock shelves, bring food from the warehouse, answer client’s questions, and help clients carry groceries out. This opportunity will allow volunteers to interact with clients.
Meet our Pantry Supervisor, Mandy, and learn more about volunteering in our pantry.
The Northeast Iowa Food Bank provides nutritious food to individuals and nonprofit organizations in 16 northeast Iowa counties. With the help of volunteer drivers, we are able to transport food both to and from our Distribution Center in Waterloo. Each day there are a number of routes that are driven, from Food Rescue (picking up food/produce donations from stores) to Elderly Nutrition (boxes and bags delivered to senior centers) to BackPacks (bags delivered to schools to be sent home with food insecure children). Local and out of town opportunities are available. Drivers can have a friend volunteer to ride along with them! Driving opportunities are available Monday through Saturday, with most routes leaving around 7:30am. Volunteers must hold a Class C, Class D, or CDL license and have a clean driving record. Volunteer riders must be able to lift at least 25 pounds and be able to get in and out of a box truck
School-aged children have access to meals throughout the school year through the Free and Reduced Meal Program, but what about those children who are chronically hungry in the summer or after school? Our Summer Feeding and Kids Café programs provide meals and snacks to these children. Through this program, volunteers assist the NEIFB Culinary Programs Manager in planning and preparing nutritious snacks and meals for these two programs. If you are working with Kids’ Café or Summer Feeding, you must complete ServSafe Food Handling Training.
Farmers Market produce rescue is simple and rewarding. Volunteers will kindly ask all produce vendors if they have extra produce to donate to the Food Bank. The produce is weighed and the donor receives a donation receipt. The produce is brought back to the Food Bank and put in our large cooler. Training for this process will be provided before volunteering. We ask for a commitment of two-three market visits per volunteer per season. Please contact Libby for more information.
Do you have a skill or trade that would benefit our organization? We want to utilize everyone’s unique talents through volunteering! If you like writing, try a hand at being our Volunteer Newsletter Editor! Enjoy entertaining large groups of people? Become our Crowd Specialist at Thursday Produce Pantries! Help us fit you with the perfect volunteer opportunity for you!