Volunteer
I'm Ready to Serve!
Each day, Bread for the City partners with community members like you. Volunteers serve in every Bread for the City department, and whether you can give two hours or two-hundred hours, we thank you for taking a step to help!
• Contact the Volunteer Engagement Staff.
• Making arrangements for a corporate group or large nonprofit (with a budget in excess of $10 million)? Please contact our Corporate Partnerships team.
Volunteer Opportunities All confirmed volunteers should visit breadforthecity.org/waiver to complete the required documents. (Mandated community service volunteers, admin volunteers, and BFC interns should complete the first and third bullets.) Please review the volunteer handbook to ensure awareness of volunteer policies and procedures. We look forward to working with you!
Sort, hang, and arrange clothing donations. During open hours, offer customer service to Bread for the City’s client population.
FOOD PANTRY
Help bag and distribute food items. Offer hospitality to Bread for the City clients as they select groceries to take home!
GROCERY PLUS
On the third Tuesday of each month, about 40 seniors (60 years of age and over) pick up a special 30 lb box of food. Up to two volunteers are needed to assist with the distribution. Duties may include carrying a box to a car, signing new seniors up for the program, and collecting signatures.
Administrative volunteers help with filing, scanning, data entry, shredding, and other tasks. A background check, confidentiality agreement, and other paperwork are required for some roles. Administrative volunteers should complete all volunteer documents.
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NEW OPPORTUNITIES
• Admin Support Volunteer – Bread for the City seeks two volunteers to serve two days a week for four hours each. Volunteers who are able to serve for an extended period (two or more months) preferred. Duties include data entry, telephone monitoring, light client outreach at NW and/or SE centers, reminder and update calls, filing and organization, and administrative support. Interested candidates should click here.
• Bulletin Board Display – Volunteers are needed at least once per season (four times per year) to update multiple bulletin boards at Bread for the City’s Southeast Center. Submissions should be creative and informative. Past topics have included information tied to psychological well-being, health, diet, local resources, financial savings, and more. If you’d like to prepare a bulletin board display, please review Bread for the City’s annual report to learn more about our client population, then submit your bulletin board idea to the Volunteer & In-Kind Manager. Displays remain visible to clients for approximately 3 months. Please note: Bulletin boards volunteers are expected to donate their own supplies.
DIAPER PROGRAM (SE CENTER)
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, two volunteers are needed at the Southeast Center from 9 am to 12:30 pm or 2 pm to 5 pm to support the diaper program. Responsibilities will include answering calls, restocking, and running on-site errands.
Limited volunteer slots are available for licensed health care professionals interested in volunteering in Bread for the City’s Medical Clinic. Medical volunteers undergo a required credential review and background check. (Additional details below.)
Bread for the City does not offer internships in our medical division. We have ongoing relationships with area schools for health care students looking for sites to do clinical rotations, but we do not accept applications from individuals.
APPLY FOR CREDENTIALS
Thank you so much for your interest in service as a medical provider with Bread for the City! Please take a moment to upload your CV, and we’ll be glad to share it with our medical director. If we have an existing need for your particular specialty, we’ll be in touch to help you complete the credentialing process.
Once you are approved to move forward, we’ll ask for the following (which will need to be updated every two years):
• Current contact information
• Curriculum Vitae (which includes education/training and board certifications)
• Current competence to practice (or CME’s if not board certified)
• Health/Fitness Information (immunization status, PPD status, ability to perform requested privileges)
• Copy of current medical license, DEA license, or other relevant licenses
• List of hospital admitting privileges (if applicable)
• Government-issued ID
• Copy of certificate from life support training (if applicable)
Bread for the City also asks you to complete the attached forms. Please anticipate that we’ll execute a query from the National Practitioner Data Bank and execute other background checks.
Thanks for your interest in service!
LEGAL
If you are a law student please contact Tracy Davis at tdavis[at]breadforthecity.org to learn more about current internships in the Legal Clinic.
BILINGUAL VOLUNTEERS
Bread for the City’s clients speak many more languages than found among the talents of our staff. If you are a bi- or multilingual speaker, we’d love to have you on our bilingual volunteer roster as a potential bridge over language barriers.
VOLUNTEER AMBASSADOR
Can you help us inspire more people to serve? The Volunteer Program is looking for volunteer ambassadors who’ll commit to learning more about the organization, then represent us at various volunteer fairs and community events. Participants are asked to learn and demonstrate organizational knowledge. To learn more, sign up here.
KNOWLEDGE SHARERS
Do you have business knowledge or a unique skill you can teach our clients? Bread for the City has multiple programs that occasionally need “knowledge sharers” who’ll better prepare our clients for the workplace and life in general. Please submit your résumé to let us know you’re interested!
VOLUNTEER DRIVERS
Volunteer drivers are occasionally needed to pick-up in-kind donations and to support other efforts. If you can help, let us know!
INTERNSHIPS
Click here to explore internships at Bread for the City.
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Note: Active skilled volunteers should report their hours at least monthly through the comments field on the special project volunteer form. Please send your number of hours completed, timeframe, department, center, and supervisor when you submit. Completion of this form helps to ensure that Bread for the City always has a record of your service. Thank you!
Looking for a community-minded office activity for your team? Consider an in-kind goods drive (especially a diaper drive or men’s clothing drive) or care kit packaging event!
CARE KIT PREPARATION
(any number of items, any combination)
• Toiletries, such soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, lotion, shampoo, conditioner, lip balm, or deodorant.
• Personal care items, such as a small comb/brush, wet hand wipes, dry tissues, nail clippers, band-aids, lip balm, and cough drops.
• Nonperishable individual snacks, such as cereal bars, dried fruit snacks, or crackers.
• Spices and condiments, such as small packages of salt, pepper, ketchup, or sugar.
Consolidate your items in a plastic bag that zips or seals. Feel free to include inspiring quotes or other words of encouragement! Drop off your kits to either BFC Center to the attention of the Volunteer & In-Kind Gifts Manager. We appreciate your support!
PROMOTION
Another way off-site volunteers can help is by sharing information on Bread for the City activities. Please find below a few fliers we’d love for you to post or share:
Volunteer Documents
All confirmed volunteers should visit breadforthecity.org/waiver to complete required documents. (Mandated community service volunteers, admin volunteers, and BFC interns should complete the first and third bullets.) For volunteers that feel uncomfortable with e-signatures, paper versions of the documents are located below. Please review the volunteer handbook to ensure awareness of volunteer policies and procedures. Please contact the Volunteer Engagement Staff with any questions.
Background Check for Long-Term Volunteers |
Background Check for Law Clerks, Interns, and Long-Term Volunteers | Download |
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Sexual Harassment Training |
Prevent Sexual Harassment | Download |
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BFC Anti-Harassment Policy |
BFC Anti-Harassment Policy | Download |
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Bread for the City Liability Waiver |
All volunteers must sign before serving. | Download |
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Client Confidentiality Agreement |
For ongoing volunteers providing direct services. | Download |
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Code of Conduct |
For extended service volunteers. | Download |
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Community Service Timesheet |
For volunteers reporting hours to third parties. | Download |
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Computer Security Policies |
For admin volunteers and interns. | Download |
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Volunteer Agreement |
For all volunteers. | Download |
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Volunteer Application |
For extended service volunteers. | Download |
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Volunteer Handbook |
All volunteers should review. | Download |
[ ! ] Some documents listed in the Archive are in PDF form. Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed in order to view most documents. Download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Thank you for choosing to serve with Bread for the City!
Kyah Campbell joins Bread for the City in 2019-2020 as our SE Volunteer Coordinator. She is now serving with us full-time as our Volunteer Engagement Manager, SE.
My name is Samra Stoner and I’m originally from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and have lived in Grand Rapids, MI for the past 15 years. My passion and commitment to social justice was initially sparked when I was a junior in high school.
