Volunteering Opportunities

Welcome back Students!!

We have recently revamped our Volunteer Information Sheet.  Please take a look and let us know what skills and gifts you can offer us. 

The spring breaks are coming up.  If you will be available and want to help out, we can use help on all shifts.  Please let us know.

We need some help with a special project.  We are developing a digital newsletter, and we need some help contacting our constituents to add them to our email list.  This can be done on your own time and could involve:

• Looking up phone numbers

• Calling our constituents to ask them to join our email list (We are not set up for phone work here, so this would be done on your own land line or cell minutes, during reasonable calling hours)

• Assistance with data entry, etc.

If you want to help us out with this, please let us know.

Please check below for other activities you can do on or off site.

Otherwise, please stop by and have a meal with us! The sense of community and participation here is, in many ways, as important as the food and advocacy we provide.

Who volunteers at Loaves & Fishes?
Our volunteers include retired people, whole families, professionals, students, church and community groups, anyone willing to lend a hand and become part of a vibrant and generous community. Any needed training is provided.  Kids are welcome, but we do need younger children (under 14) to come with an adult.  Because of insurance and liability issues, we cannot have minors working with stoves or knives, so this may limit the shifts available.

There are presently over 100 volunteers scheduled in the Loaves & Fishes kitchen during the week. Many of these have been working the same 3 hour shift each week for 5, 10 or more years, and they form a core group of dedicated workers. There are many volunteer openings during the year, but the kitchen shifts, especially for the evening meals, fill up quickly at the beginning of each semester.

If scheduling a volunteer activity is difficult, or if we don’t have open shifts that work for you, our doors are open to all for meals, and we encourage you to join us for some good food and to visit with our guests during any mealtime:

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday noon to 1 pm
Tuesday and Thursday 6 pm to 7 pm

How do I get involved with Loaves & Fishes as a Volunteer?
To schedule any volunteer activity (listed below) or to suggest or offer other volunteer services, please contact:

Volunteer Coordinator
272-5457

Office hours are part time on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9am to 2pm. Please allow a couple of days for return correspondence.

Can I do community service hours at Loaves & Fishes?
If you are looking to complete school credit or court-ordered community service hours, please refer to the Community Service page.

What do volunteers do?
• Work in the kitchen
• Visit with guests during mealtimes
• Provide music
• Help with errands or maintenance
• Participate on a board committee such as fundraising/PR or Education and Advocacy

When are the kitchen shifts and which ones have openings?
As noted above, we need some help on Wednesdays for serving/cleanup, 11:30 to 2:30; and on Fridays for cleanup, 1:00 to 2:30.  If you are available, please contact us.
• Please consider the other options and projects mentioned above, and please check back in the future, as we will update this information as the situation changes.
• If you are available during academic breaks, we can use help in the kitchen during those times, as many of our student volunteers leave the area during breaks. The breaks for the fall semester are:
 

Cornell:  March 20 - March 29
Ithaca College:  March 13 - March 21

What can large groups (including groups of young kids) do, and how do they get scheduled?
Because we have to maintain a regular, reliable crew of volunteers to staff the kitchen, we cannot easily schedule large groups (5 or more) to do regular volunteer work here. However, we can use help for certain projects such as preparing for our Empty Bowls fundraiser in the fall, other events, and special cleaning projects.
 

• Bake desserts or cookies, then join us for a meal and serve your goodies.
• Join us for a meal and provide us with songs and music. YAY!
• Make center pieces for 10 tables for a holiday.
• Make packets of candy for 120 guests.
• Collect canned food items, then join us for a meal.
• Assist with special projects and events - Ithaca Festival in the summer and Empty Bowls in late fall.

We do not have meals or office operations on weekends, so we do not typically have volunteer opportunities on weekends.

What do I need for my first volunteer shift/activity?
If you are scheduled to work in the kitchen, please wear a hat and, if possible, bring an apron.  Please read our Volunteer Guidelines before you begin.  If you want you can also download, complete and bring or send our Volunteer Information Sheet.

There is no parking in the lot at Loaves and Fishes. There is meterless parking about a block away.

Thanks for your interest!  Volunteers make the work of
Loaves & Fishes happen, and we are grateful for the work you do!