People gathered in a modern indoor space with a green neon alien face sign on the wall, some looking at a display or table, engaged in conversation.
A smiling woman with curly red hair and a man with glasses, a beard, and a black cap, standing together in a cafe or restaurant. They are both wearing volunteer badges from 'The Giving Plate'.
Black and white illustration of a pizza with four slices.

VOLUNTEER

Make a difference and give of your time and heart to help us feed our neighbors in need.

By donating your time and energy, you help create an environment where dignity, respect, and hope flourish.

Your involvement not only nourishes those in need but also inspires a sense of worth in every individual we serve, reinforcing our shared commitment to making a lasting impact.

Interested in being a volunteer?

We have 550 volunteer shifts per month that we need to fill! If you are looking for an opportunity to serve weekly, biweekly, or monthly, we would love to welcome you to serve with us.

If you have any questions, email us at volunteer@thegivingplate.org.

Community Store and Kid’s Korner Programs

  • Assisting guests who are shopping and/or who wish to have us shop for them. Restocking shelves, light cleaning in guest areas and guiding guests to the Check Out area. Requires being on your feet for 3-4 hours, interacting with guests and being comfortable changing tasks as needed.

  • Assisting guests in getting groceries to their cars. Must be comfortable interacting with guests, have the ability to lift 30lbs. repetitively, stand for the entire shift and willing to work outside in all weather conditions.

  • Interacting with guests using Pantry Soft to enter guest and visit information. Filling out shopping slip for guest and using Google Sheets to update the guest list while working closely with the Greeter and Chaos Coordinator to ensure a positive guest experience. Must be comfortable interacting with guests in a welcoming, positive way with compassion and without judgement. Able to use Pantry Soft and Google Sheets (training available).

  • The Power Stocking role is crucial to keeping our Community Store ready for guests. As a Power Stocker, you'll ensure shelves are fully stocked before opening and after closing, helping create a smooth shopping experience for families in need. This behind-the-scenes role makes a big impact by ensuring our store is always ready to serve the community!

  • With this volunteering opportunity, you will take a monthly spot where you will go with our mobile pantry into surrounding rural communities to provide food to children 17 and under. This volunteering role requires a background check, and appreciate if volunteers are able to cover that cost themselves and can discuss this in more detail with you if we have openings available for you to volunteer in this role.  We are looking for people who love children and can commit to a monthly, regular slot.

  • Hosting our little guests while they play and shop! Checking in guests, assisting kids with shopping and monitoring shopping and play area and recording visits and incentives. Must be comfortable interacting with guests and children, multitasking and able to gently and graciously enforce the rules of Kids Korner.

  • Greeting guests in the waiting area offering coffee and snacks. Assisting the Shopping Host to ensure a positive guest experience. Must be comfortable interacting with guests, multi-tasking and able to stand the entire shift.

  • Monitoring our guest list and store capacity, explaining the shopping guidelines to guests, preparing the guest's cart for shopping and working closely with Greeter, Hospitality Host and Receptionist to ensure a positive guest experience. Must be comfortable interacting with guests, able to use Google Sheets (training available), have the ability to stand for the entire shift and comfortable multitasking.

  • Weighing and recording grocery orders, gently and graciously ensuring that shopping guidelines have been followed and bagging groceries. Must be comfortable interacting with guests and able to stand for entire shift.

  • This role has limited interactions with guests. Using Pantry Soft to record visit information and work closely with staff to ensure accurate information is being documented. Able to use Pantry Soft (training available) and attention to detail.

Distribution Center and Operations

  • Help us bring in and take out food to our community. This role may include driving our vehicles to pick up food around Bend (a clean driving record and driver's license required) or traveling with our driver to help with the loading and unloading of food. This position requires heavy lifting.

  • This volunteer role is at our distribution center and is not front facing with guests. Sorting/organizing donations and produce, unloading truck, assembling premade orders. Requires being on your feet for 3-4 hours, able to lift up to 50 pounds independently. 

  • This position involves volunteering at The Giving Plate's other warehouse during Bend Food Project's food drive that is held two consecutive Saturdays every other month. It involves collecting and sorting food at the drop-off location. This position requires being on your feet for multiple hours and being able to regularly lift bags of food up to approximately 35 pounds.

    Learn more about becoming a Neighborhood Coordinator or volunteering at the Distribution Center during Bend Food Project Collections by visiting this link.

  • Help us with special events that fall outside of our normal business hours.  This includes but is not limited to food drives and other special events.

*Please note that with the busy holiday season approaching, we will be temporarily pausing the onboarding of new volunteers.

We look forward to welcoming new volunteers back in January, when our New Volunteer Orientation will resume. Our first orientation of the year will take place on Wednesday, January 6.

In the meantime, there are some meaningful ways to get involved and support our mission. You can help by donating food items or organizing or participating in a food drive!

Every contribution, big or small, makes a difference and helps us continue serving those in need.

Apply to Volunteer Here
People gathered inside a grocery store, listening to a woman speaking near produce, with shelves and green hanging lights overhead.

Interested in other volunteering opportunities?

Check out the options in the drop-downs below.

  • Whether you need to complete service hours for school, work, or court-mandated requirements, we welcome your help at The Giving Plate.

    You must fulfill at least 16 hours.

    To get started, please fill out the volunteer application HERE. Include…

    • The total number of hours you need to fulfill.

    • The purpose of your service hours (e.g., school, work, court-mandated).

    • For court-ordered hours, please include a brief explanation of the reason for the hours.

      • Court-ordered community service hours must be completed at the Distribution Center. Volunteers must be able to lift up to 50 pounds and remain on their feet for the duration of the shift. Please note that Distribution Center shifts are limited, and volunteers may sign up for available time slots.

    We look forward to working with you and appreciate your willingness to support our community.

  • We welcome children and teens into our volunteer team! Kids may sign up for shifts based on age guidelines and role requirements. Please note: We have limited availability for children, and they may sign up for open time slots that align with their age requirements.

    • At the Community Store, youth ages 12–13 may volunteer alongside a parent or guardian, supporting their role throughout the shift. Beginning at age 14, youth can serve in selected roles on their own. Certain positions require volunteers to be 16 or older and may include additional training or approval.

    • For the Kid’s Korner Mobile Pantry, volunteers must be at least 12 years old, attend Volunteer Orientation, complete a background check, and be accompanied by an adult if under 18.

    • Volunteers 16 and older are welcome to serve independently.

    Explore the dropdowns below to find next steps based on what you and your child are looking for, whether it's ongoing opportunities, one-time events, or service hours.

    For any questions, feel free to email our volunteer team at volunteers@thegivingplate.org.

  • We offer three or four-hour volunteering shifts from Tuesday to Saturday. You can find detailed schedules in the volunteer application on the "Apply Here" button on this page. Please note that we do not have volunteering opportunities on Sundays or Mondays, and evening shifts are limited.

  • Bend Food Project: Sign up to fill green bags or be a neighborhood coordinator. Learn more at the Bend Food Project Website.

    One-Time Food Drive: Get your kids involved with a neighborhood food drive. There are lots of ways to be creative and have fun with this. Email info@thegivingplate.org for more details.

    Collect Cans & Bottles: The Giving Plate is signed up as a nonprofit with Bottle Drop Centers, and all the funds that we get from cans and bottles go to purchase gas and propane vouchers for our guests who need them. Help us fill blue bags. Come by The Giving Plate during our open hours to get blue bags to fill and take to Bottle Drop, or you can bring your cans and bottles to us and we will do the work.

If you are interested in any of these volunteer options, please email us at volunteer@thegivingplate.org.