Volunteer

The Food Bank of East Alabama is open for volunteers, and they are needed now more than ever!

***ALL VOLUNTEERS NOTE***

MUST wear closed-toed shoes

NO cell phone or earbuds/headphone use while in the warehouse

Regular Volunteer Hours

Monday – Thursday
7:00 a.m. to Noon or
1:00 to 3:00 p.m.

Friday
7:00 a.m. to Noon

Location: 355 Industry Drive, Auburn, AL

Need to fulfill Court-Ordered Community Service or School Disciplinary Service Hours? Contact Crystal Fuller at cfuller@foodbankofeastalabama.com before signing up to volunteer.  Court-Ordered and School Disciplinary Community Service volunteers must first meet with Mrs. Fuller before signing up to volunteer.

Check our VOLUNTEER CALENDAR below: 

Last year, volunteers gave more than 18,050 hours of time to help us feed our neighbors. Volunteers can sign up for a one-time event or as a regular volunteer and use your talents and time to benefit your neighbors in need.

Regular Volunteer Opportunities (Groups or Individuals)

  • Food Sorting — We receive donations of food items that need to be sorted and boxed. We need volunteer help to make this possible and opportunities are scheduled in advance before we know what the food items may be when they arrive. Help us accept more food! Here are some examples:
    • Packing Backpack sacks
    • Food Drive sorting
    • Checking dates and food safety of food drive items
    • Bagging bulk produce
    • Putting bulk rice or pasta into family sized bags
    • Boxing up like items into equally weighted boxes
    • Bread sorting
    • Emergency Food Box Packing

Food items sorted in our volunteer center support our 220 partner agencies and programs that include our Senior Brown Bag Program, Backpack Program, Emergency Food Bank Program, and the Mobile Food Pantry.

Volunteer opportunities at the Food Bank do count for school or service-learning hours as well as court-ordered community service.

Questions? If you have any questions, please contact the Food Bank at 334-821-9006 or cluangkhot@foodbankofeastalabama.com. Contact us to register your group of 5 or more.

Learn more about Volunteer Opportunities

Auburn University Students are welcome to volunteer at the Food Bank as part of their service learning. Please check out the AU IMPACT page for more details.

If you are interested in volunteering at Community Market, please contact them directly at (334)749-8844 or by email at mjimmerson@foodbankofeastalabama.com.

Need to fulfill Court-Ordered Community Service? We welcome court-appointed volunteers. Make arrangements with the Food Bank at cfuller@foodbankofeastalabama.com prior to volunteering. Court-Ordered Community Service Hours must be scheduled with Food Bank staff.

If you are looking to schedule a time to volunteer, click the SignUp Genius link to schedule your hours.

During Your Volunteer Time

  • Please plan on volunteering a minimum of two hours at a time.
  • Plan to arrive five minutes before your scheduled volunteer time.
  • Upon arrival, please check in at the front desk to sign in.
    • Volunteers must be 16 years or older to signup online. (If you would like to bring someone to volunteer that is under 16, prior approval must be arranged.)
    • Closed-toed shoes are REQUIRED! No flip-flops or sandals.
    • No revealing, tight yoga clothing or sagging pants permitted! NO TANK TOPS, and SHORTS MUST MEET THE FINGERTIP RULE (when arms are down at sides, shorts length must be at the same level as your fingertips)  If you report to the Food Bank and your attire does not meet our dress code, you may not be able to volunteer.
    • No cell phone use while in the warehouse! This is time to give back, and not social media time.
    • No eating or drinking while in the warehouse! We will provide opportunities for breaks.
    • The warehouse is Alabama-climate controlled so it gets quite hot in the summer and quite cool in the winter months. Dress accordingly and please follow our warehouse dress code rules.

For more information:  cluangkhot@foodbankofeastalabama.com

Attention Volunteers March 1, 2022

In accordance with CDC and local health official’s assessments, masks are no longer required at the Food Bank; however, they are preferred.

Volunteer opportunities exist in many areas at the Food Bank, including repacking bulk foods in the warehouse, packing boxes for our programs, office tasks, sorting product, stocking shelves, etc. Our goal is to provide meaningful work experiences and increase our human resource and service capability through volunteer involvement.

Most volunteer opportunities are available during regular weekday hours. Please feel free to check out the calendar and sign up!

Please note, you will need to provide your email and cell phone number before sign up. Both groups and individuals are asked to sign up for volunteer hours using this link.

Please contact the Food Bank in advance to schedule in the event that your group cannot work during regular hours of operation or cannot come in during one of our evening/weekend shifts on the calendar. These hours must fall Monday – Thursday and we will do everything we can to accommodate special requests.

Volunteers are vital to ensuring nutritious food reaches our neighbors in needs. We could never do this important work alone!