Quakertown Food Pantry
providing emergency food assistance to neighbors in need

Volunteer

Interested in Volunteering?

The Quakertown Food Pantry relies completely on its many committed volunteers. Without the help of our volunteers, the pantry would not be able to provide the needed food services to those in need in our community. If you are interested in volunteering, please use this form to let us know.

INFORMATION

  • All volunteers MUST attend an orientation

  • Volunteers aged 15 and under must be accompanied by a parent or adult.

  • Volunteers must be 21 years of age or older to work at the front desk.

  • Youth group volunteers must have at least 2 adult supervisors present.

  • We do not accept volunteers with court-ordered community service.

There are many ways to get involved!

Individuals

  • Greeting and serving clients

  • Picking up donations

  • Helping at food drives and special events

  • Date checking, sorting, and traying the donated food items

  • Cleaning the pantry

  • Stocking the shelves

  • Setting up the shelves for the weekly shopping

  • Being part of the freezer crew

  • Training and coordinating the volunteers

  • Being a part of the management team and pantry board

Groups

  • Financial Donations. Financial donations are used for building maintenance and to buy necessary foods that run low.

  • Gift Cards

Let us know you want to help!

 

Please fill out this form to let us know of your interest in volunteering:
Quakertown Food Pantry Volunteer Application for Membership (Google Form)

If you’d rather download a form and either fill it out online, or print it and bring it in, here’s a PDF of the application:
Quakertown Food Pantry Volunteer Application for Membership (PDF)

 

Opportunities at the Quakertown Food Pantry

  • BCOC/PHILABUNDANCE Liaison - Liaison for any food orders, required training, inspections and grant requests. Also answer any emails from either group. Responsible for reports, Food Manager Program and any concerns about State/Federal deliveries. Volunteer must be 21 to work in office.

  • Bulk Food Purchasing - Ordering and delivering or arranging for delivery of food from local supermarkets to supplement long term food buying according to pantry needs. (Management team)

  • Desk Receptionists – Greet and sign-in clients for their visit. Complete all paperwork and the shopping list. The volunteer must be 21 to work at the desk.

  • Facebook - Posts pantry activities, news, Thank yous.

  • Food Drive Help – Usually during weekdays or sometimes on a Saturday. This may involve picking up donations from schools & the post office. Help to carry in the donations, weighing, date checking and putting the donations away. This may require some heavy lifting or carrying donations upstairs to the office area.

  • Food Drive Coordinator - Liaison for food drives, coordinates scheduling and responsible for coordinating the food drive help.

  • Freezer Crew – Re-stocking front serving freezers and freezer cart and sorting meat from the dunnage shelf into freezer containers. Label and date the containers then place containers onto a shelf in the freezer in the proper section. Volunteer must be able to lift heavy boxes.

  • GAH helper - Helping to put away the food deliveries that come in from our local grocery stores. This would be late morning (10am-12:30pm), however, time is somewhat flexible.

  • GAH Scheduled Grocery Pick-up drivers - Scheduled pick-up and delivery of donated groceries from local supermarkets according to their agreements with the pantry on weekdays. This is an ongoing weekly position and requires commitment. This can be a shared position. Example some pick-ups are 3 times a week – An individual could select one of the designated days to pickup and another individual could select the other day. The management team will work on the schedule with you. Must be able to lift heavy items.

  • GAH Scheduled Grocery Pick-up Coordinator - Coordinates the schedule for the drivers and if necessary coordinates with the supermarkets on pick-up times.

  • Last Minute Call List – if you agree to be on this list we may call you at the last minute to come to the pantry to help, depending on what you signed up for on the application.

  • Management Team – The management team creates menus, orders food and supervises stocking of shelves for that week’s menu.

  • Morning bread pick-up – Bread is picked up from such locations as Target, Walmart, Giant, etc. and must be picked up regularly at the time specified by the organization.

  • Newsletter – A quarterly newsletter is published for Pantry Volunteers. This includes gathering articles, creating and publishing the newsletter.

  • Office Work – This involves logging the daily client visits into the BCOC Food Manager Program and researching discrepancies. Activities include completing weekly and monthly reports, answering the phone and retrieving messages, printing forms as necessary for the desk downstairs, creating signs and posters as necessary. The volunteer must be 21 to work in the office.

  • Packing grocery bags – Packing bags with the menu items based on family size. This is done outside of the normal shifts and done ahead of the times when we are open for the clients. Currently Monday evening or Thursday Afternoon. We are flexible.

  • Packing Bonus bags - Packing smaller bags with up to 6 extra items.This is done outside of the normal shifts and done ahead of the times when we are open for the clients. Hours are flexible.

  • Packing Coordinator - Coordinates the schedule for packing of the client bags. Assigns volunteers to work schedule.

  • Publicity/Communications – Contacting newspapers, Facebook, organizations, etc. to tell them about our organization and how the community can help.

  • Receiving & shelving donations – Greeting donors at the back door and weighing and documenting the donations. Also date checking and putting the donations on the wire racks next to the donation station. Hours are during the daily shifts.

  • Receiving & shelving - Friday mornings and some Wednesdays or Thursdays to shelve product received from State/Federal deliveries. Other days are available to receive merchandise from other sources.

  • Re-stock/Organize shelves - This is re-stocking and organizing the storage and shopping shelves in the pantry. Must be able to lift tray of canned goods which can be heavy. Days are Tues, Wed, Thurs and the occasional Saturday mornings. Hours 9:30am - 11:30am are the best, however, time is somewhat flexible.

  • Salting or shoveling after snowstorms – The pantry is open Mon thru Fri to serve Clients. Also Volunteers work at the pantry on Saturday and Sunday sometimes. We need to keep both the front and back of the pantry free from ice, snow, etc. for the safety of the clients and our volunteers.

  • Shift Supervisors - Open and close the Pantry during a shift. Assign duties to volunteers, provide guidance to volunteers, decision making when required and ensure all listed duties and Supervisor Check List are completed. Answer client questions if necessary.

  • Shift Volunteers – Volunteers who serve during hours when the pantry is open for clients. Positions include: serving clients, stocking shelves, receiving donations and receptionists.

  • Special Events – Volunteers are needed to assist in planning and help with pantry and community events during the year such as “Quakertown Alive” spring and fall events. We need volunteers willing to donate their time to hand out brochures, take donations and answer questions about the pantry.

  • Treasurer - Responsible for paying expenses, keeping the ledger, financial records, and documenting the gift cards.

  • Volunteer Coordinator - The volunteer will contact volunteers by telephone or email to fill positions for shift volunteers, keep schedules up to date and maintain the volunteer membership roster.