Support your downtown neighbors
Each year, volunteers serve nearly 12,000 hours at the Food Bank and help distribute more than 750,000 pounds of food. Volunteers help us:
- distribute food to our shoppers
- pack and deliver bags of groceries to our homebound clients
- rescue food from grocery stores and businesses in the Market
- sort, record, and organize rescued food
- welcome and check shoppers in during distribution days
- maintain a clean, friendly working and shopping environment
- create and nourish our wonderful community
Whether you’ve got plenty of time to serve or just an hour or two, whether you’d like to volunteer on your own or with friends or coworkers, whether you want to work with shoppers or glean from farmers markets, we’d love to have your help as we work toward ending hunger in downtown Seattle.
Application
Please take a few minutes to review our volunteer policies and fill out an application. You’ll hear from us within a few days!
Opportunities
Volunteer opportunities include preparing the distribution line and assisting shoppers with food, organizing our warehouse, collecting donated food from Market vendors and farmers markets, and delivering groceries to our homebound shoppers.
What to expect
Parking – The Food Bank is located on the 5th level in the Market parking garage on Western Ave. Parking is $4 an hour (up to 4 hours), or $24 for anything over 4 hours. Commercial parking tax and sales tax included.
Recommended dress – Please wear closed-toed, sturdy shoes and comfortable clothes you wouldn’t mind getting dirty. The Food Bank provides aprons and vinyl gloves for handling food.
Shopping – Volunteers are free to shop in the half hour before distribution starts.
Community service hour tracking – We keep track of all of our volunteers’ hours. If you need your service hours verified, let us know.