Donate Funds
Financial donations are critical to keep the freezers running, stock the cooler with meat, produce and dairy items, pay the rent, keep the van on the road picking up food, and for covering salaries for the three employees who do the work of a small army!
Please donate now.
Host a Food Drive
Consider holding a food and fund drive at your school or work. To make your drive easy, we’ve created some documents that will guide you through the process.
Donate Food
We can always use donations of high protein, healthy foods, such as:
- Canned chicken, tuna and salmon
- Hearty meat soups and stews
- Canned vegetables and fruits
- Dry and canned beans (kidney, pinto, green, yellow, refried or black beans)
- Peanut butter
- Pasta and rice
- Pancake and baking mixes
- Oatmeal
- Granola and energy bars
- Dried fruits (raisins, dried cranberries, apricots, apples, etc)
- Ensure and other nutritional supplement drinks
- Formula
- Diapers – all sizes
Drop-off times for donations of food :
Tuesdays through Saturdays 8am-2pm
(Please call ahead 206/723-4105 to make sure we're here!)
Volunteer
Volunteer Application
Volunteering at the food bank is important, fun, rewarding work that has a great impact on our community. We are looking for upbeat volunteers who can help. If you enjoy working with others, interact with the public well, and can commit to a shift, we can use your talents! If you have the time, muscle and a smile to contribute, we’d love to talk to you about the following volunteer positions:
Food Drive Helper: Dates/times vary. We aim to hold at least one drive each month.
Volunteer shifts are generally two hours long. During this time, you pass out fliers to people entering the store (the fliers contain a grocery list with our most needed items). People purchase items inside the store and drop them off with you. You give them a warm thank you and a smile and pack the groceries into the barrels provided by RVFB. The stronger of our volunteers may wish to help load bags, boxes or barrels of food into our waiting van.
Warehouse Assistant: Tuesdays and Fridays.
In this position you help move and sort boxes of food, and organize and stock food on shelves. This can be heavy work and it is helpful if you are able to lift 50 pounds.
Distribution Helper: Wednesdays and/or Saturdays
In this position you help prepare food for distribution and distribute the food to clients at the Food Bank. You will help bag food, prepare the space so that food is organized for distribution, and then help hand out the food.
While some folks enjoy working the full day (9:00AM to 2:00PM), others prefer three hour shifts. Let us know your preference and availability, and we'll put you on the schedule! We encourage you to volunteer once a week, once a month, or as often as your schedule allows.
Home Delivery Assistant: Thursday mornings
We deliver groceries to over 80 homebound seniors each week. Come help us pack bags at 7:00 AM, load the van, and even help with the deliveries if you can spare the time and energy!
Translator: Times vary
We often need to create or update documents in various languages in order to share information with our guests. We could use your translation help with Cantonese, Vietnamese, Somali, Ukrainian, Spanish, and others. Call 206/723-4105 to inquire about current needs.
Receptionist/Typist: Wednesdays and/or Saturdays 9:00-12 and 12-3
When guests enter the Food Bank, they check in with our front desk, and their information is entered into a computer database. The system is simple and only takes about 15 minutes to learn. This position requires attention to detail, accurate typing, speed and friendliness. Ideally, we would love to have a pool of regular volunteers who can return often to fill this role. This is a key role, as the database allows us to report our service levels to funders. Also, this role sets the tone and pace of service in the food bank.
If you would like to volunteer please call 206-723-4105 or email kanchana@rvfb.org