Volunteer

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

Each month, about 35 seniors (60 years of age and over) pick up a special 30 lb box of food. Up to two volunteers are needed to assist. Duties may include carrying a box to a car, signing new seniors up for the program, and collecting signatures.

ORCHARD & GARDEN HELPERS

Plant, water, weed, harvest and tend to various edible fruits, veggies, herbs, and ornamental flowers. (Volunteers may be asked to engage in other garden tasks, too.)  Join a community of growers to learn how to care for a garden of your own! Rooftop Gardens are open to the general public from 1 pm to 4 pm on Tuesdays at the Northwest Center. Bread for the City’s Sustainable Agriculture Department and Foodways Team will be on hand to train and help volunteers.

ADMINISTRATIVE VOLUNTEERS

Bread for the City’s Sustainable Agriculture team needs 2-4 administrative volunteers to serve for 2-3 months.  If interested, please sign up here.  Candidates should complete all volunteer documents.

Schedule:
(December 11, 2017 to February 28, 2018)
Tuesday, 10 am to 1 pm
Thursday, 10 am to 1 pm

Tasks:
• Organize documents
• Compile data
• Secure program feedback
• Assist in report preparation

Desired Volunteer Qualities:
• Excellent verbal and written skills
• Strong organizational skill
• Friendly and outgoing
• Prior experience serving in rooftop garden or orchard
• Experience writing winning grants (optional)

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.  Please sign up through our online shift calendar for a general morning or afternoon slot at our Northwest Center.

NEW OPPORTUNITY

A) 

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.

B)

Bread for the City’s Sustainable Agriculture team needs 2-4 administrative volunteers to serve for 2-3 months.  If interested, please email khoff[at]breadforthecity.org.  Candidates should complete all volunteer documents.

Schedule:
(December 11, 2017 to February 28, 2018)
Tuesday, 10 am to 1 pm
Thursday, 10 am to 1 pm

Tasks:
• Organize documents
• Compile data
• Secure program feedback
• Assist in report preparation

Desired Volunteer Qualities:
• Excellent verbal and written skills
• Strong organizational skill
• Friendly and outgoing
• Prior experience serving in rooftop garden or orchard
• Experience writing winning grants (optional)

C) 

Bread for the City’s Advocacy Department seeks two volunteers to serve two days a week for four hours each.  Most work will be executed at the Southeast Center (1640 Good Hope Road SE).  Volunteers who are able to serve for an extended period (two or more months) preferred.

Duties:

• Data Entry
• Telephone Monitoring
• Light client outreach at NW and/or SE centers
• Reminder and update calls
• Filing and organization
• Administrative support for advocacy team

Interested candidates should complete all volunteer documents and submit a résumé to sspringfield[at]breadforthecity.org.

HOUSING ACCESS PROGRAM (NW CENTER)

Bread for the City’s Housing Access Program (HAP) needs volunteers to answer client questions and help individuals complete paperwork. HAP sessions are weekly, and volunteers for this opportunity must be trained by members of the Social Services program.

At present, the greatest need for support is Thursday morning from 10 am to Noon, helping clients complete housing applications.  Individuals who plan to commit for multiple months preferred.  Express your interest here!

Note:  Active HAP 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!

DIAPER PROGRAM (SE CENTER)

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, two volunteers are needed at the Southeast Center from 9 am to 12:30 pm and/or 2 pm to 5 pm to support the diaper program. Responsibilities will include answering calls, restocking, and running on-site errands.

Bread for the City’s Advocacy Department seeks two volunteers to serve two days a week for four hours each.  Most work will be executed at the Southeast Center (1640 Good Hope Road SE).  Volunteers who are able to serve for an extended period (two or more months) preferred.

Duties:

• Data Entry
• Telephone Monitoring
• Light client outreach at NW and/or SE centers
• Reminder and update calls
• Filing and organization
• Administrative support for advocacy team

Interested candidates should complete all volunteer documents and submit a résumé to sspringfield[at]breadforthecity.org.

LEGAL

If you are a law student, recent law school graduate, or attorney barred in DC or able to practice under rule 49(c), please contact Danielle Moise to learn more about current volunteer opportunities in the Legal Clinic. No evening or weekend legal volunteer opportunities available.

MEDICAL

Limited volunteer slots are available for licensed health care professionals interested in volunteering in Bread for the City’s Medical Clinic. Accepted volunteers will undergo a required credential review and background check.

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.Thank you for your interest in learning with us!

Note:  Active professional 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!

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!

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 and willing to work with some of D.C.’s most vulnerable residents, we’d love to have you on our bilingual volunteer roster as a potential bridge over language barriers.

VOLUNTEER AMBASSADOR

Do you love Bread for the City? 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, please 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 (pre-employment, Women Strong, etc.) that frequently need “knowledge sharers” who better prepare our clients for the workplace and life in general. Please contact a member of the Volunteer Program Staff if you are interested in this opportunity.

VOLUNTEER DRIVERS

Volunteer drivers are occasionally needed to pick-up in-kind donations and support other efforts. If you can help, please sign up here.

INTERNSHIPS

Click here to explore internships at Bread for the City.

Looking for an in-office volunteer activity for your team?  Consider developing care kits for those we serve!

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.

Consolidate your items in a plastic bag that zips or seals in another manner.  Volunteers sometimes include notes of encouragement in their care kits.

Those interested in off-site volunteering might also consider a donation drive to collect in-kind goods.

CYBER ALLY

Cyber-allies help Bread for the City to expand our reach through social media. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and subscribe to our blog. As often as you can, like and share our posts! With your support, more people will learn about Bread for the City’s work and engage with the organization. (No volunteer hours are earned for cyber-ally support.)

Scroll to the bottom of any page on the Bread for the City website to connect to our social media!

Bread for the City provides opportunities for volunteers to complete court-mandated community service hours at both our Northwest and Southeast Centers.

Volunteers seeking to complete community service hours must follow both our intake and reporting requirements below.

• Schedule an in-person meeting with a member of our volunteer staff. If possible, make arrangements before or after the general volunteer orientation. At the meeting, staff will review the additional unique requirements for community service volunteers and help you set a schedule for service. Please bring your completed volunteer paperwork and your Community Service Volunteer Agreement.
• Most community service volunteers complete one shift per week (usually 2-3 hours) at Bread for the City. We cannot guarantee that community service volunteers will be able to complete all of their assigned hours with Bread for the City, but we will do our best to work with each individual. Each community service volunteer is required to maintain a special timesheet that will be signed by a staff member after each shift you serve.
• Community service volunteers may serve at either our NW or SE Center. However, we cannot guarantee that volunteers will be able to serve at their preferred center.
• Bread for the City reserves the right to terminate a community service volunteer opportunity should an individual fail to show more than twice for a start date.
• Community service volunteers who have more than two “no-call, no-show absences” will be dropped from the program and will need to reapply.
• Once community service hours are complete, a member of the volunteer team must approve, sign, and stamp to validate the timesheet. The volunteer team will be glad to provide a letter of completion confirming the number of hours served with Bread for the City. To request a confirmation of your hours, please click here.