Become a Volunteer
Volunteers are vital to providing hope and help through our programs. We have many ongoing and one-time opportunities available, including stocking food pantry shelves, sorting donations, prepping snack bags for kids, helping clients shop, and serving as a friendly face at our lobby reception desk.
Volunteers should be 16 or older and interested in helping others with respect and compassion. We seek people from all backgrounds. Bilingual skills, particularly Spanish and Hmong, are especially needed!
Whether you’re a people person or your prefer to stay behind the scenes, we have the perfect job for you! Check out our opportunities below and click “Become a Volunteer” to get started today.
Please note: we are unable to provide volunteer opportunities to fulfill community service hours at this time due to staff capacity.
Volunteer Opportunities
See below for a list of current volunteer opportunities. Needs change throughout the year based on program and seasonal needs. Click the “Become a Volunteer” button to sign up as a volunteer and/or be notified of future opportunities.
Food Pantry – Client Shopping
Two positions work during open pantry hours to assist clients while shopping: Host and Bagger. Help is needed 6 days a week. ¿Hablas español? ¡Te necesitamos! | Koj hais lus Hmoob? Peb xav tau koj!
Hosts work primarily indoors greeting our clients, answering questions, and guiding them through the pantry as they shop. Volunteers should be familiar with the layout of the pantry; the shopper guidelines, and a general sense of what products are available. Clients will receive easy-to-follow guidelines on the amount of food and personal care items available to them based on their family size. Role involves frequent standing and walking.
Baggers assist clients in bagging their groceries, weighing their groceries, and may help load their groceries into their vehicle. Should be able to lift at least 25 lbs.
Essential Duties, Responsibilities, and Requirements:
- Bending, lifting, reaching, grabbing, pushing, walking, standing
- Comfortable interacting with pantry guests and answering questions
- Customer service mentality
- Must be dependable and punctual
- Be courteous and personable when dealing with the public
- Be self-directed
- Lift 25 pounds
- Comfortable working in a warehouse environment and outdoors in various weather
Food Pantry – Food Recovery & Stocking
Food Recovery and Stocking is crucial for ensuring our pantry guests have access to the food they need.
Help is needed on Fridays 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM. Duties include:
- Stocking shelves on our dry goods shelves, or in the cooler and freezer,
- Help receive donations
- Sort donated produce, dry goods, and frozen products
Essential Duties, Responsibilities, and Requirements:
- Bending, lifting, reaching, grabbing, pushing, stepping up (on step ladder), standing
- Ability to visually read Best-By dates on products and sort food by date
- Visually inspect product for quality and safety and discard unsafe donations
- Be courteous and personable when dealing with the public
- Be self-directed and detail-oriented
- Lift 40 pounds
- Comfortable working in a variety of environments, including cooler and freezer
Food for Kids – Fun Friday
Make sure kids can have fun all weekend by helping them access healthy snacks!
Join us in preparing Fun Friday Snack Bags! In this role, you will be filling paper lunch bags with snack items. These hearty snack bags are distributed Friday afternoons to about 150 kids, as we accompany the Dream Bus through low-income neighborhoods. Fridays 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM.
- Bending, lifting, reaching, grabbing, pushing, walking, standing
- Lift 25 pounds
- Comfortable working in warehouse environment
Lobby Resource Center
Are you a people-person? Put your talents to work welcoming customers, donors, and the public to Sunshine Place.
Help is needed on Mondays through Fridays during open lobby hours. Duties include:
- Greeting everyone who walks through the door,
- Answering questions about Sunshine Place services, and where to find help,
- Answering calls,
- Receiving in-kind donations.
Essential Duties, Responsibilities, and Requirements:
- Answering the phone
- Typing and using the internet
- Be courteous and personable when dealing with the public
- Be self-directed and detail-oriented
- This job is typically done sitting down.
Other Volunteer Needs
We will have other limited-time needs throughout the year. Watch this space for current needs!
Home Delivery
We work to make sure that no one in our community goes hungry, whether they are able to get to the pantry or not. Our Home Delivery program assists clients who cannot reach the pantry or use a proxy shopper to get groceries. We need volunteer help taking orders, picking groceries, and delivering directly to clients. Due to the sensitive nature of these positions, volunteers must understand the importance of client confidentiality.
Home Delivery Coordinator will reach out to clients either by email or agency phone to take orders for delivery. The Home Delivery Coordinator should be comfortable speaking on the phone, and with Gmail, Google Forms, and Excel. Tuesdays 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM.
- Contacts clients by email to remind them to submit order via Google Forms.
- Contacts clients by phone who have no access to email and assists in filling out order via Google Forms.
- Print shopping lists for volunteer shoppers.
- Using Google Maps, create and print a route for delivery drivers.
- Using Excel, maintain delivery records.
- Sitting, typing, looking at a computer screen, speaking and listening (into a phone).
Shoppers take prefilled orders and pick groceries from pantry shelves. Shoppers should be comfortable with average grocery shopping tasks like pushing a cart and lifting light groceries. Thursdays 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM.
- Fulfill client orders by shopping pantry shelves from a list.
- Standing, walking, pushing (a shopping cart), reaching for and grasping groceries, lifting (grocery bags and boxes into and out of cart, and into van), writing with marker.
Delivery Drivers and Assistants use an agency vehicle to deliver groceries directly to clients. Drivers must have a valid license and clean driving record, and be comfortable using a larger van. Drivers and Assistants should be comfortable lifting up to 30 pounds, and using a hand truck. Thursdays 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM.
- Using provided directions, drive (or assist driver in) delivery van to clients’ homes.
- Carry (using hands or hand-truck) boxes and bags of groceries to client’s homes.
- Ensure client is home to receive groceries.
- Sitting, standing, walking, lifting/carrying (up to 35 pounds), pushing/pulling (a hand truck), driving, climbing ramps or stairs.
- Sometimes must walk on ice/snow, or other slippery conditions.