Thanks for your interest in volunteering!
Volunteers are critical to the work of Bellingham Food Bank. Each week, more than 150 community members contribute their time and energy to our programs. We couldn’t do our work without this support!
To get started volunteering:
- Determine whether your availability aligns with the volunteer shifts that we offer, below.
- Decide whether there is at least one volunteer activity that sounds fun, interesting, and within your capacity!
- If your schedule aligns with at least one of our shifts, and if at least one activity sounds interesting to you, submit a volunteer interest form at the bottom of this page.
After you’ve submitted your volunteer interest form, we will reply within 1 week and invite you to attend a 1-hour VIRTUAL volunteer orientation. During this talk, you’ll learn more details about Bellingham Food Bank’s philosophy of service, volunteer roles and expectations, and scheduling details!
Do you have school or court-mandated service hours?
DO NOT submit the volunteer interest form at the bottom of this page.
CLICK HERE to find out if you qualify to complete your community service at Bellingham Food Bank.
Volunteer Opportunities
Free Grocery Program
Volunteer Shifts:
Mondays, Wednesays, Fridays
Early Shift: 9:45-2:00
Afternoon Shift: 1:45-6:15
Home Delivery Program
Volunteer Shifts:
Thursday Box Packing: 9:00-11:30 ish
Friday Home Delivery Route Driving:
Shift start times range between 8:45 and 10:00 and route durations vary between 1 and 3 hours. We work with drivers to determine preferences!
Outdoor Drive Thru
Volunteer Shifts:
Tuesdays
Food Box Packing: 9:00-10:30 ish
Box Giveaway: 3:15-6:45
Box giveaway volunteer roles are very limited.
Dry Goods Re-Bagging Program
*ONLY AVAILABLE TO GROUPS OF 4-16 PEOPLE**
No set weekly schedule.
To find out more, email:
melanied@bellinghamfoodbank.org
Read This Before Signing Up Below:
- If you have court-mandated service hours to complete, click here to learn about your options.
- Bellingham Food Bank does not offer any weekend volunteer opportunities.
- Walk-in opportunities are not available. Volunteers must be scheduled in advance, no exceptions.
- Volunteers need to be available for the entirety of a shift. Shift times and lengths vary, but no shift begins after 1:45 pm.
- All Bellingham Food Bank volunteer positions require some amount of standing, bending, lifting, twisting, and working independently.
- Volunteers with our home delivery program must be at least 18 years old. Volunteers with all other programs must be at least 16 years old.
- We LOVE it when our volunteers can speak other languages, especially Spanish, Mixteco, Russian, and/or Ukrainian.
- There are no Holiday service opportunities beyond our normal programming. This includes Christmas & Thanksgiving.
When you submit this form, you will receive an auto-reply confirmation. If you do not receive it, check your junk mail. If you can’t find it anywhere, you probably typoed your email address when submitting the form.
Within a week, we will review your application and ensure that your availability is compatible with at least one of our volunteer shifts. If it is, we will invite you to sign up for a 1 hour virtual volunteer orientation to learn more details about helping out at Bellingham Food Bank.
If you do not receive any e-mails within a week of submitting your form, check your spam/junk folder. If there’s nothing there, please email Melanie directly at melanied@bellinghamfoodbank.org or call 360.676.0392
Additional ways to support Bellingham Food Bank!
Language Support. Let us know if you are interested in providing language support or making sure food bank resources are known about in your community! We need help creating and translating materials to communicate to a wide array of people. We especially need help with speaking in person and creating audio materials for spoken languages. Contact Stephanie at 360.676.0392 x1007 or by email.
Community Loaves. Do you love baking bread? With support from Community Loaves, you can bake bread for the Bellingham Food Bank! This fantastic group of community bakers will provide you with everything you need to get started. Since 2021, we have received over 4,000 loaves of fresh baked-bread from our neighbors, and it truly is lovely to see. To sign up, attend a Community Loaves info session.