Volunteer

We need your help!

Sign ups are open! We need volunteers for all roles, especially heavy lifters for the Greater Chicago Food Depository receiving crew. New volunteers are always welcome.

September Sign Up
October Sign Up

Become a Volunteer and Make an Impact in Our Community!

Volunteering at the Westchester Food Pantry can be a very rewarding experience. You will make new friends, be part of a team, and improve your community by assisting your neighbors in need.

There is an assortment of volunteering positions at the Pantry, which can be explored further below. It is essential that volunteers possess the ability to work amiably with a diverse clientele in a non-judgmental and compassionate manner. Any personal information of the clients is kept confidential, and every individual at the Pantry is treated with the utmost respect and dignity.

Please contact the Westchester Food Pantry, if you have any questions. 

Volunteer at Westchester Food Pantry

Seasonal Volunteer Opportunity

Yard Sale Extravaganza 2023

The Yard Sale Extravaganza is a major fundraiser for the Pantry, and lots of volunteers are needed to make it a success. Sale set-up is Wednesday, May 31, and the sale is June 1-3. There are many shifts available over the four days; shifts are three and four hours long.

This sale is always a ton of fun! And yes, volunteers are able to shop while they work!

Sign-up here

Seasonal Volunteer Opportunity

Thanksgiving Fundraising at the Westchester Jewel

Each year, volunteers raise thousands of dollars for our Thanksgiving baskets by soliciting donations at the Westchester Jewel-Osco. This year, we will fundraise November 1-15. Weeknight shifts are two hours long, and weekend shifts are three hours long. This is a great opportunity for families with kids age 5 and older. Sign up to fundraise at Jewel here.

Sign-up here

Seasonal Volunteer Opportunity

Outreach Volunteers are Needed Throughout the Year

The Westchester Food Pantry participates in community events all year long. Community concerts, park district events, back to school fairs and more are all wonderful opportunities to meet potential clients, volunteers and donors. We need a team of friendly, knowledgeable volunteers who we can reach out to when events arise. Interested?

Sign-up here

Year-Round Volunteer Opportunities

For many of the below volunteering opportunities, the Pantry is using Sign Up Genius.

Sign Up Genius

The Pantry is now using Sign Up Genius for many of its volunteering opportunities. Thus, you will need to create a ‘sign up’ account to volunteer. It is free and very easy to do.

  • Sign Up Genius will automatically send a reminder three days before your volunteer shift.
  • If you are signing up for more than one person, please note that on the Sign Up Genius. If you are volunteering with children, please note their ages.
  • If you need to cancel your shift, please do it through Sign Up Genius. That way another potential volunteer will see the opening and be able to fill in.
  • If you need help with setting up an account or have questions, please email the Pantry.

For the past few years, the Pantry sent reminder emails every week to our Friday crews: set-up, food reclamation, client service, etc. But, keeping track of all the emails, spreadsheets, service hours, absences and week switches has become very difficult and has led to some scheduling mix-ups, i.e. too many volunteers one week, too few the next. To be respectful of all our volunteers’ time and experience at the Pantry, and to make things easier for everyone, the move was made to Sign Up Genius.

September Sign Up
October Sign Up

Receiving Crew

The 1st and 3rd Fridays of every month, typically between 8am – 10am. This crew receives our orders from the GCFD. It involves taking heavy boxes of cans, meat and produce from GCFD pallets into the pantry. These volunteers must have the ability to lift and move heavy items. Please provide your phone number if you are signing up for this slot, as sometimes the truck may be early or delayed. And, we will let you know when it arrives.

Food Sorting, Shelving & Setup

Every Wednesday afternoon from 1-3pm, and every Friday afternoon from Noon-2pm. This crew receives food reclamation, sorts, puts everything away, packs bags of food for client services, restocks shelves, and sets up and organizes client choice items. A few folks who can do heavy lifting are needed for this shift, but otherwise all ability levels are fine.

Client Services

Every Wednesday from 4-7pm and every Saturday from 8:30-11:30am. This crew helps the clients “shop” for a variety of items; this is called “client choice”. Some of their packaged & canned groceries have previously been bagged, and just need to be loaded into shopping carts. Once the client is ready, this crew brings their groceries outside in the shopping carts and loads them into client vehicles. A few folks who can do heavy lifting are needed for this shift. Otherwise, all ability levels are fine.

Registration

Every Wednesday from 4-7pm and every Saturday from 8:30-11:30am. This particular role is limited to volunteers who have been trained on our Link2Feed registration system. If you would like to learn this system in order to volunteer for this role, please reach out to the pantry’s Executive Director, Amanda Grant, to arrange for training.
Email the Pantry

Parking Lot Attendant

Every Wednesday from 4-6pm and every Saturday from 8:30-10:30am.  Our Pantry continues to get busier and busier each week and an adult volunteer is needed to help manage the parking lot and direct the flow of traffic.

Wet Nose Pantry

Every Wednesday from 4-7pm and every Saturday 8:30-11:30am.  This volunteer helps clients choose dog and cat food and restocks our Wet Nose Pantry throughout the shift. There are also opportunities to come in at other times to prepare the Wet Nose Pantry area with food and supplies. About every two months, you can also help pick up pet food (a couple pallets) at a Carol Stream distribution location.
 

Food Reclamation

During the week, primarily Fridays and Wednesdays from approximately 11:00 am – 1:00 pm, volunteers go to predetermined stores to pick up food that is no longer sell-able for a variety of reasons, but still perfectly fine to eat. We have a huge need for food reclamation volunteers. Our pantry gets a great deal of fresh food through these food reclamation efforts, and all the food is given out to clients during distribution. You will need a larger, reliable vehicle and be able to lift/load up to 20 pounds. We only ask our volunteers to commit to one reclamation day of the same week each month. Please provide the model of your vehicle when contacting the pantry.
Email the pantry

Fundraisers

Throughout the year, the Pantry gets involved with fundraisers that raise much needed funds in order to serve our clients.  These events include the Souper Bowl (beginning of February),  Yard Sale Extravaganza (beginning of June), Fourth of July Parade, Westchester Fun Fest (August),  Greater Chicago Food Depository Hunger Walk (September), and Jewel Holiday Bucks (November).  In order for these fundraisers to be successful, we need lots of motivated volunteers.
Email the Pantry

Outreach

Everyone we meet is a potential client, volunteer or donor which is why outreach events are so important! We want to meet everyone, because everyone has a place at the Pantry.  We need volunteers who are confident talking about the Pantry – how to get food, how to volunteer and how everyone can get involved.  The Pantry participates in numerous outreach events throughout the year. 

Sign Up Here

Westchester Food Pantry proudly serves the communities of Bellwood, Berkeley, Broadview, Hillside, Hines, La Grange Park, Westchester, and Western Springs.

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1938 South Mannheim Road
Westchester, IL 60154
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Hours

Wednesday 4:30pm–7pm
Saturday 9am–11am

Reach Out

(708) 927-4826
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Member Agency #A01529

EIN # 47-5376704

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