Volunteer

Volunteers are essential at all levels of the Food Bank For New York City's operations — from serving hot meals to New Yorkers in need at the Community Kitchen in Harlem to staffing at public awareness and fundraising events!

Learn how to get involved below! Opportunities are available for individuals and groups.

Warehouse Repack Program Community Kitchen CookShop Program

Free Income Tax Services Program Your Neighborhood Food Program 

Events & Campaigns Current Opportunities

WAREHOUSE REPACK PROGRAM
Volunteers are needed at our 90,000 square-foot warehouse in Hunts Point, Bronx, to break down, assess the quality of and repackage food and nonfood products into sizes suitable for distribution to the city's soup kitchens and food pantries. Our Warehouse Repack Program typically accepts groups of 10 to 30 volunteers from corporations, schools, nonprofits and other organizations. Volunteers are needed between 9:30am and 3:30pm, Mondays through Fridays. Most groups help for a two to three hour shift. VOLUNTEER

COMMUNITY KITCHEN & FOOD PANTRY
The Community Kitchen & Food Pantry, located on 116 Street, offers low-income New Yorkers a broad range of interrelated programs to alleviate hunger, including a soup kitchen that serves hot meals and a choice-style food pantry. Volunteer opportunities are also available at other food programs throughout New York City. Learn more about these programs below or contact us now to find out which program best suits your interests and availability.

Our Community Kitchen needs volunteers to help prepare and serve food Monday through Friday at the following times: 9: 30am - 2:30pm. (Dinner preparation on Fridays begins at 10:30am), and from 3:30 to 6:30pm (Dinner Service). Individual volunteers or small groups of up to six people are welcome - ages 16+ ONLY. VOLUNTEER

Our choice-style Food Pantry allows eligible New Yorkers to select the fresh produce and packaged, frozen and canned food items they need themselves, free of charge, in a supermarket-style environment. Volunteers are needed to help stock pantry shelves, to help clients shop for food, check out, and assist with bagging groceries. Shift times are as follows: Tuesdays & Thursdays from 9:30am - 1pm and 1-4pm, Wednesdays from 1:30pm- 6:30pm, and Fridays 9:30am - 2pm. Spanish and Chinese speakers are encouraged to volunteer. Individual volunteers or small groups of up to six people are welcome - agest 13+ ONLY. VOLUNTEER

COOKSHOP PROGRAM
CookShop, the Food Bank For New York City’s federally-funded nutrition education program, gives low-income children, teens and adults the knowledge and tools to adopt and enjoy a healthy diet on a limited budget. With hands-on workshops reaching approximately 30,000 New Yorkers across the five boroughs, CookShop teaches cooking skills and nutrition information and fosters enthusiasm for fresh, affordable fruits, vegetables and other whole foods.

Unfortunately, we are not recruiting any volunteers for CookShop at this time. Please check back with us in May 2012. If you would like to be automatically notified, please fill out our General Volunteer Application HERE and indicate that you’re interested in our ‘Children’s Nutrition Education’ on Question 10.

FREE INCOME TAX SERVICES PROGRAM
The Food Bank's Free Income Tax Services Program offers low- to moderate-income New Yorkers help filing their taxes. Every year, approximately 300 volunteer tax preparers donate their time through the program to help eligible New Yorkers receive credits and refunds including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Last year, our Free Income Tax Services Program completed more than 38,000 tax returns for low- to moderate-income New Yorkers — helping to provide more than $65 million in tax refunds and credits.

UPDATE: The Food Bank is not currently accepting volunteer applications for this year's tax season. If you are interested in volunteering in 2013, please email volunteer@foodbanknyc.org.

Learn more about the Tax Assistance Program. 

YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD FOOD PROGRAM
Food Bank For New York City distributes food to approximately 1,000 community-based member programs — including soup kitchens, food pantries, senior centers and shelters — throughout the five boroughs. The majority of these programs rely on volunteers to operate, supplying food and other assistance to low-income New Yorkers. To volunteer at your neighborhood food program, please fill out our volunteer application today, or use our Food Program Locator to locate a program near you.

EVENTS & CAMPAIGNS
From delivering campaign materials to restaurants and supermarkets in your neighborhood to conducting research interviews or distributing gift bags at events, volunteers are essential to the Food Bank's year-round public awareness, research and fundraising efforts. The Food Bank keeps costs low by using volunteers for the "soup-to-nuts" aspects of events, including staffing and invitation distribution for events from the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival to the Can-Do Awards Dinner— allowing the Food Bank to maintain one of the most efficient business models in the nation's food bank network. Our education and outreach efforts utilize volunteers to conduct interviews for research studies, coordinate Borough Hunger Task Force meetings in communities throughout the city and build relationships with the hospitality industry.

Contact the Food Bank if you have questions about any volunteer opportunities.