How You Can Help the Foodbank

Year-Round/On-Going Volunteer Opportunities:

• Bilingual Volunteers – we need bilingual (English/Spanish) volunteers to help with a variety of community outreach projects, including teaching kids about nutrition, how to cook, and how to grow fresh produce. We also need help recruiting more bilingual volunteers, so we would love it if you could attend the Hispanic Chamber mixers and other community activities to help spread the word.
• ServSafe Certified Volunteers (or be willing to become certified) – manage our food repackaging projects to ensure compliance. Must be able to help on a regular, long-term basis during normal business hours (average of two 2-4 hour projects per week, but this will increase over the holidays). If you are not currently certified and would like to help, you would need to take a one day class paid for by the Foodbank.
• Use and Promote Charity Miles – a free app that empowers you to earn money for charities while walking, running or biking—every day. Select “Feeding America” as your charity and earn 10¢ per mile for bikers; 25¢ per mile for walkers and runners. We need people to promote this in our community to schools, health and fitness centers, companies, etc.

Specific Events Volunteer Opportunities:

• Distribute Flyers to as many local businesses, schools, and churches as possible to promote the holiday food drive and corporate challenge. Flyers need to be distributed by October 21^st. We need outgoing people to talk about the Foodbank’s programs and community impact, not just drop off flyers. We will provide training on this before sending you out.
• Pick up and Deliver Food to the Foodbank (October – December) – we need volunteers who have trucks or vans or who wouldn’t mind driving a Foodbank van to pick up food donations at local businesses and grocery stores and deliver them to the Foodbank weekdays between the hours of 7:00am – 3:00pm.
• Pick up Turkey Donations and Deliver them to our Member Agencies – our warehouse is not able to pick up turkey donations unless it’s 25+ at one time. We need volunteers to help with this.
• Help Staff our Booth on October 5^th for the Alzheimer Walk from 9:00am – 12:00pm or from 12:00pm – 3:00pm at Earl Warren Showgrounds. I’m on my own on this one, unless I get some help!)
• Help Staff our Booth on October 13^th for City Wide Clean Up from 9:00am – 12:00pm at Ortega Park or from 9:00am – 12:00pm at Calvary Baptist Church (736 W Islay). We were asked to have a booth at both locations, so I can staff one but I need help staffing the other one.
• Help Staff our Booth on October 15^th from 7:00-9:00pm at Pollock Theater (UCSB) for the American Winter film. I have one volunteer to help me, which is probably enough, but you should come watch the film – it’s a great documentary about the issues we are facing. Stop by our booth if you come.
• Help Staff our Booth on October 24^th from 11:00am – 1:00pm for Food Day at Back Door Deli: 315 Camino Del Remedio.
• Help with Tour de Cure on October 26^th and 27^th – we are recruiting volunteers to help with the actual event and also to help us staff our booth. Please contact me for more information. We need to recruit 100 volunteers to help each day, so please ask everyone you know to help!
• Help Staff our Booth on November 2^nd – from 11:00am – 2:00pm at 4175 State Street for Fit Body Bootcamp’s Open House! All proceeds will be donated to the Foodbank. I’m going to be at Santa Barbara Open Streets this day, so I need someone to cover this booth.
• Help with Santa Barbara Open Streets on November 2^nd from 10:00am – 1:00pm or from 1:00 – 4:00pm – we are recruiting volunteers to help with the actual event and also to help us staff our booth. Please contact me for more information.
• Empty Bowls Volunteers – this is information from last year, but it explains what the event is all about.
  • November 1^st – deliver empty soup buckets to restaurants that are donating soup. Must have a truck or a van.
  • November 1^st – pick up supplies from storage unit to the Foodbank to store overnight. You will ride with a Foodbank employee in our van.
  • November 2^nd – pick up filled soup donation buckets from restaurants and deliver to the Foodbank. Must have a truck or a van.
  • November 2^nd from 9:00am – 1:00pm – need 25 people to help set up tables and chairs for the event at the Foodbank (need strong people – tables are HEAVY).
  • November 3^rd from 8:30am – 12:30pm – move soup from the Foodbank warehouse to the Page Youth Center next door and help direct parking for the event.
  • November 3^rd from 2:30 – 5:00pm – need 25 people to help take down tables and chairs (need strong people – tables are HEAVY).
  • November 4^th at 8:00am – take supplies from the Foodbank back to the storage unit. You will ride with a Foodbank employee in our van.
• Help with Holiday Food Donations – we need volunteers at our warehouse to receive food donations and write out donation receipts from 3:00 – 5:30pm (or later if people keep coming in) on November 22, 25, 26, and 27 and the whole week before Christmas.
• Grocery Store Food Drive Leader/Organizer. Contact local grocery stores to get approval for volunteers to collect donations on specific days, manage the grocery store food drive volunteer schedule, and be the liaison between the volunteer coordinator and the grocery store food drive volunteers.
• Grocery Store Food Drive Volunteers. Collect food and money donations at local grocery stores. This can be done any day/any time as long as the volunteers are able to get the food back to the warehouse before 3:00pm Monday – Friday or can store the food in your vehicle/garage until the next business day.

Thank you so very much for any type of support you can help us with!!

Sincerely,

Melissa Howard

Celebrating over 30 years of ending hunger and transforming the health of Santa Barbara County through good nutrition. Learn more at www.foodbanksbc.org.