Volunteers Keep Us Going
Volunteers help with food distribution on the days we are open to serve clients. They typically arrive one hour ahead of time to assemble family-sized food boxes and to prepare the office before opening for clients.
Some of the volunteers that we use include
- Drivers who pickup donations and food from retail sources.
- Warehouse workers who fill food boxes, stock shelves and take food out to clients' cars.
- Office workers who sign in each client and pull folders.
- Interviewers who meet with each client.
In addition to those who volunteer their time at the Whitney Food Bank, other members of the community help by organizing food collection and fundraiser events and by participating in the annual Food Drive held each November.
Drivers
Drivers pickup donations of food, diapers, empty boxes, bags and more.
Warehouse Workers
Warehouse workers are needed to help with food distribution. This work involves the following:
Assemble food boxes with non-perishables for each expected family based on family size.
Pack bags with meat and frozen foods and store these back in the freezer.
Greet clients and load their cart with non-perishable and frozen food items. Push the cart to the scale, record the weight, and deliver the items to the client's car in the pickup area.
Inventory current items and prepare list of needed items to be ordered. Sort and shelve donations that have been received recently.
In addition, twice a month on Thursday mornings at 8:30, warehouse workers are needed to help unload pallets of food from a large truck arriving from the Tarrant Area Food Bank. The food must be sorted, the produce inspected, and everything shelved into the appropriate locations.
Office Workers
In the outer office, volunteers prepare before opening to sign in clients. As clients arrive, these volunteers assist with filling out the food voucher request form.
Office workers should have general office skills including computer, copy machine and phone skills.
Interviewers
Interviewers meet with new clients to gather personal information in order to determine eligibility based on standards defined by the Tarrant Area Food Bank where we get much of our food. They verify the information provided for each family member and setup a 30-day schedule for food pickup.
These volunteers also interview current clients to determine if they have had any changes or additional needs, and then finalize the food voucher request forms.
Interviewers need to be friendly, compassionate, and able to keep clients' information confidential.