Ballard Food Bank Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteers are the heart of Ballard Food Bank

Every month more than 300 volunteers donate 2,500+ hours of service. They recover and sort food, stock shelves, and help clients shop.

Volunteer At Home

Looking for a fun and helpful way to volunteer at home? Need a way to engage a group of children or co-workers to give back? Click here to learn more about an opportunity to volunteer at home.

New onsite Volunteers

The first step to becoming a Ballard Food Bank volunteer is to complete our volunteer interest form to tell us about your availability and interests. If your open times and days match our current needs, you’ll hear from us very soon! We appreciate your flexibility and patience as our immediate needs are changing all the time.

While you’re waiting, explore the website for more information on our programs, services, and schedule. You can also get started by hosting a food drive or repacking items at home or your workplace (see the “Volunteer at Home” section above).

Once we’ve brought you in for a volunteer orientation and completed a background check, you will have access to sign up for volunteer opportunities. We recommend committing to a regularly scheduled shift. The best way to get to know the food bank and the different positions and tasks is to consistently spend several hours a week volunteering. Please be flexible and willing to do different tasks over the course of your shift to help us meet our most urgent needs!

  • Mondays, 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM

  • Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM

  • Wednesdays, 8:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Specific Needs

Current and new volunteers, please contact our Volunteer Manager, Heidi at volunteer@ballardfoodbank.org if you are interested in filling any of these roles. 

Home Delivery Food Packers - Pack food for families and individuals to be delivered!  This also includes handing out the groceries to the Door Dash Drivers who pick up this delivery. This is a great role for folks who are detail oriented and like a fast-paced work environment. This position may also include creating the produce and non-perishable bags if needed. Volunteers must be able to lift up to 20 pounds.

Home Delivery Drivers - We are seeking additional drivers for our home delivery program. Most of these shifts include using your own vehicle, but some routes do require using a BFB vehicle. We will need to see proof of insurance that shows 50/100/50 or CSL $100.  Drivers must be able to repetitively lift 20 pound boxes or bags.

Food Recovery Substitute Drivers – This position would fill in on the volunteer team that goes out each morning at 8 AM (Monday-Thursday) in one of our vehicles (box truck or sprinter van) to our various grocery store partners to retrieve donations to the Ballard Food Bank. Each week, a schedule is provided listing open shifts needing to be filled for the following week.  This is roughly a two hour time commitment. A valid driver’s license is required, and volunteers need to be able to repetitively lift up to 50 pounds of boxes or bags.


Corporate and group volunteering

As a non-profit we welcome groups of volunteers. Group volunteer experiences do take time and effort for us to plan and organize, above and beyond the normal volunteer schedule. While we can’t charge fees to help cover the expenses we incur from creating meaningful volunteer experiences for companies, we do greatly welcome financial and in kind donations. We are experiencing an incredibly high demand for food and hygiene items; the need in our community is high. We encourage groups to consider how they can contribute meaningfully via a combination of food, funds, and time.

If you’re looking to volunteer as a group, here are some things to keep in mind:

  • Group opportunities tend to book out far in advance, so get on the calendar as soon as possible.

  • We’ve reserved Friday mornings for volunteer groups to give back to the community and build camaraderie while packing home delivery bags and doing other tasks.

  • If your organization is willing to break up into smaller groups of 2-5 volunteers we may be able to fit you in on a Monday or Thursday afternoon.

  • Our group volunteer experiences are best suited to groups of 5-15. We can sometimes accommodate groups of up to 30, but do not have the capacity for groups larger than that.

  • If you are scheduling a volunteer opportunity for your group, consider running a donation drive first – when you arrive, you can stock your donated items directly on the shelves!

Larger groups can help by setting up an offsite activity such as purchasing and repacking first aid items, pet food, and other essentials. Learn more about that here!

To inquire about group volunteering opportunities, please contact our Volunteer Manager, Heidi at volunteer@ballardfoodbank.org.