Volunteers are needed in the FOOD for Lane County office as projects come up, helping staff members in tasks involving large mailings, computer projects and preparing materials for food drives and special events.

FOOD for Lane County’s three community gardens are a great way to involve people of all ages. Volunteers are needed year-round to participate in a variety of garden activities. These include soil preparation, planting, harvesting, composting and greenhouse projects. Large groups of volunteers can be accommodated by special arrangement.

Do you enjoy cooking and working with food? Come help in the day kitchen. Tuesday through Friday afternoons volunteer gather in the FOOD for Lane County kitchen where they do support projects for the Family Dinner Program, repack bulk products, sort and clean donated produce and perform other kitchen tasks as needed.

Volunteering at a FOOD for Lane County event is a fun way to get involved in the fight against hunger in our community. In addition to the hundreds of community-sponsored food drives throughout the year, FFLC partners with local letter carriers and the U.S. Postal Service on two food drives, one in December and one in May. We need volunteers to do a variety of things, from picking up and sorting food to posting flyers, for both these events. We also need volunteers for our two signature events: Empty Bowls and Chefs’ Night Out.

At sites in Eugene and Springfield, families and individuals are invited to enjoy a hot, nutritious evening meal at no charge. Volunteers assist the site supervisors with food preparation in the afternoon and with serving meals and clean up in the evening. This program operates Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

Help us repackage rescued food for pantries and meal sites around Lane County. FOOD for Lane County’s refrigerated FREX van visits restaurants, hotels, cafeterias and university food services, picking up food that has been prepared but never served. The food is brought to FOOD for Lane County’s kitchen where volunteers ready the food for distribution to community kitchens and food box agencies throughout Lane County. The FREX kitchen operates Monday through Friday evenings and depends on a staff of more than 150 volunteers each week. Individuals, students, families, business groups and civic and faith-based organizations are all welcome.

Volunteers assist with food distribution from the agency warehouse in a variety of ways. They ride along with drivers on their routes and help with basic warehouse tasks such as cleaning, loading and unloading trucks and vans and sorting donated food. Available shifts vary during the warehouse operating hours Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm.