All Back Door Food Pantry operations are run by volunteers. The range of tasks include helping to stock the shelves, preparing inventories, opening and closing the pantry and of course helping to distribute food.
During the pandemic, the pantry itself can not be occupied by patrons, so outside the pantry on the circle drive, patrons place an order for desired food items with volunteers after they they register. Their order is then handed over to a volunteer working inside the pantry who bags the patron-selected items and delivers the items to the patron placing the order.
Each week volunteers do the following:
| Day | Schedule | Volunteer Activity | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | 1:00-3:00pm | Inside the food pantry, unpack and shelve our major weekly order delivered by Food Gatherers. Empty trash and recyclables. | ||
| Thursday | 1:15-3:00pm | In the Social Hall, receive and subdivide produce received from Food Gatherers and Gelardi Produce. Prepare bags of produce to be handed out to patrons outdoors starting at 4pm. Move the rest of the Food Gatherers order [dairy items, etc] into the pantry building. Empty recyclables. | ||
| Thursday | 3:30-5:30pm | Set up tables, canopies and supplies outdoors near the Circle drive and inside the Back Door Food Pantry. Prepare for contact-free distribution starting at 4:00 PM. Register patrons as they arrive. Hand out order booklets for patrons to mark their food selections. Pantry “Shoppers” will bag patron orders and distribute bags to patrons near the ramp door. | ||
| Thursday | 5:30-7:45pm | Continue as above until ~7pm. Then move all equipment and supplies indoors. Clean up and take inventory. Empty trash and recyclables. |
To learn more about donating or becoming a volunteer please contact: coordinator@backdoorfoodpantry.org.
To volunteer, please click on the link below and email the Volunteer Coordinator your name, a phone number where you can be easily reached (a Cell phone number is best), and the hours you are available for volunteering. In addition, if you are fluent in a language other than English, please let us know.