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.

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.

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NEW OPPORTUNITIES

• Advocacy Admin Support Volunteer – 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 include: data entry, telephone monitoring, light client outreach at NW and/or SE centers, reminder and update calls, filing and organization, and administrative support for advocacy team. Interested candidates should complete all volunteer documents and submit a résumé on our volunteer interest form.

• 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.

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.

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, we’d love to have you on our bilingual volunteer roster as a potential bridge over language barriers.  One of our immediate needs is a lunchtime volunteer that will support staff 2 to 4 times a month in improving their informal, conversational Spanish speaking skills.  Each week would focus on a different topic (colors, vacations, work, etc.) to give staff conversational practice in that specific sphere.  If you’re Spanish-fluent and fun, we’d love to hear from you!  Apply here.

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!