Opportunities From: Feeding the Foothills

We will be sorting through donated food items from Starbucks and re-packaging them into plastic bags.

Requirements:

Please make sure to wear comfortable, sturdy, fully-enclosed closed-toe shoes. We cannot allow anyone into the building without closed-toe shoes.  Masks and face coverings are optional as of May 15, 2022. Volunteers are still more than welcome to wear them if they prefer and extra masks are available at our warehouse. 

Please only sign up for dates and times that you are available.  

Physical demands:*

Standing for 1 Lifting bags of Starbucks items that weigh up to 5 lbs. Reaching between waist-high table and bin of food products

*As with all our shifts, these are not firm requirements, merely a heads up regarding the general activity involved in the shift. If you are interested in this activity but are unsure if it's the right fit, we're happy to figure out accommodations or adjustments that will allow you to participate safely and comfortably!

Shifts close ten minutes after the scheduled start time. In order to provide adequate instruction and safety information to all volunteers, we cannot admit folks who arrive later than ten minutes past the scheduled start time.  

Parking:

Mapping apps (Google Maps, Waze, etc) like to bring folks to our rear door, which is not a public entrance. Once you turn off either Industrial or Washington, please stay on the north side of the building. Park in the area highlighted below, then cautiously cross our loading dock (follow the crosswalk) and wait at the three green picnic tables (or in the lobby if the weather is bad) for a staff person to bring your group inside. 

Please only sign up for a sorting shift if you have attended a Sorting Training. We offer sorting training shifts several times per month, and require folks to train before attending regular sorting sessions. 

Sorting Superstars help us move donated food from our warehouse out into communities in need. When grocery stores donate food, it usually arrives by the truckload in varying states of disorganization. During a sorting shift, volunteers go through the donations, organize the individual items according to our sorting system, check for quality and safety, and discard any spoiled or unsafe items. Sorting the donations is essential so that we can pack the food up efficiently and make it available to our agency partners for distribution. 

Physical demands:* Standing and walking for 1-2 hours Lifting banana boxes full of product (up to 25lbs) from floor level to 4ft high Reaching into bins at floor level to place items or retrieve them

*As with all our shifts, these are not firm requirements, merely a heads up regarding the general activity involved in the shift. If you are interested in this activity but unsure if it's the right fit, we're happy to figure out accommodations or adjustments that will allow you to participate safely and comfortably!

Shifts close ten minutes after the scheduled start time. In order to provide adequate instruction and safety information to all volunteers, we cannot admit folks who arrive later than ten minutes past the scheduled start time.  

                      

We receive large quantities of donated non-perishable goods from a network of grocery purveyors. Our Salvage Saver volunteers take these items that have been previously sorted by other volunteers, and package them into banana boxes. Then, the boxes are made available to our partner agencies, who take them back to the communities they serve and distribute them to folks in need. We call these boxes "salvage boxes" because they are full of salvaged products. 

During a salvage shift, volunteers set up an assembly line with bins of sorted products along a conveyor belt. They fill banana boxes with a variety of salvaged items as they move down the line of bins, and the full boxes are eventually stacked, labeled, and made available for our agency partners. 

Physical demands:* Standing and walking for 1-2 hours Lifting banana boxes full of product (up to 25lbs) from floor level to 4ft high Reaching into bins at floor level to place items or retrieve them

*As with all our shifts, these are not firm requirements, merely a heads up regarding the general activity involved in the shift. If you are interested in this activity but unsure if it's the right fit, we're happy to figure out accommodations or adjustments that will allow you to participate safely and comfortably!

Shifts close ten minutes after the scheduled start time. In order to provide adequate instruction and safety information to all volunteers, we cannot admit folks who arrive later than ten minutes past the scheduled start time.  

Produce Party shifts are always a good time! 

During these shifts, we pack loose produce into family sized portions and get them ready to distribute at our various mobile distribution sites. Fresh produce is a core component of our mobile distribution menu, and we wouldn't be able to offer fresh fruits and vegetables without the help of volunteers to pack and prepare them.  

Requirements:

We require that everyone wear closed-toe shoes at all times at all volunteer opportunities. As of May 15, 2022, masks and face coverings are optional at our warehouse. Volunteers are welcome to wear them if they prefer and extras are available at the warehouse. The warehouse varies in temperature according to the weather, so please dress accordingly. We encourage you to wear layers as some of the shifts are physical in nature and you may warm up as the shift goes on. 

Please only sign up for dates and times that you are available. If you need to cancel a shift, we require at least 24 hours notice so we have sufficient time to find someone to cover for your absence. 

Physical demands:*

Standing for 1-2 hours Lifting bags of produce up to 5lbs, and possibly items up to 20lbs Reaching between waist-high conveyor belt or table and pallet or bin of food products

*As with all our shifts, these are not firm requirements, merely a heads up regarding the general activity involved in the shift. If you are interested in this activity but are unsure if it's the right fit, we're happy to figure out accommodations or adjustments that will allow you to participate safely and comfortably!

Shifts close ten minutes after the scheduled start time. In order to provide adequate instruction and safety information to all volunteers, we cannot admit folks who arrive later than ten minutes past the scheduled start time.  

Arguably the most fun shift of the week - Every Tuesday, a group of 4-5 students from the Western Placer Unified School District's Special Education contingent come to the warehouse as part of a job training program. They are recent high school graduates seeking work experience, and the program offers them the chance to explore many different work environments. They also get more familiar with the employee/supervisor and co-worker dynamics and experience them in a real work setting. We encourage anyone interested in getting to know the students and having a blast while packing either produce or nonperishable products to check this shift out! 

Physical demands:* Standing and walking for 1-2 hours Lifting banana boxes full of product (up to 25lbs) from floor level to 4ft high Reaching into bins at floor level to place items or retrieve them

*As with all our shifts, these are not firm requirements, merely a heads up regarding the general activity involved in the shift. If you are interested in this activity but unsure if it's the right fit, we're happy to figure out accommodations or adjustments that will allow you to participate safely and comfortably!

Shifts close ten minutes after the scheduled start time. In order to provide adequate instruction and safety information to all volunteers, we cannot admit folks who arrive later than ten minutes past the scheduled start time.  

Thanks for your interest in volunteering at Feeding the Foothills! 

We require everyone to attend orientation before attending any warehouse shifts or mobile distributions. 

This shift will take place at our warehouse, and will include a tour of our facility, an overview of our organization and programs, information about our volunteer opportunities, scheduling, and next steps to volunteer.

Please make sure to wear comfortable, closed-toe shoes. We cannot allow anyone into the building without closed-toe shoes.  Masks and face coverings are optional as of May 15, 2022. Volunteers are still more than welcome to wear them if they prefer and extra masks are available at our warehouse. 

We recommend wearing comfortable clothes that you don't mind getting a bit dirty (just in case). Our warehouse is only partially temperature-controlled, so dress according to the weather forecast for the day. 

This shift will likely involve standing and occasional lifting for extended periods of time, but we are able and eager to accommodate any needs that we can. Let us know ahead of time if you think this might pose a problem for you so we can make sure there is a role suited to your needs available. 

At the end of the shift, staff will take a quick photo of you that will be attached to your volunteer profile in our database. We won't post it anywhere without you permission, it's just to help our staff learn and remember your name. 

Shifts close ten minutes after the scheduled start time. If you arrive more than ten minutes after the scheduled start time, we will kindly ask you to reschedule for a different orientation date so that you are able to attend the full orientation. 

Directions and Parking:

Please park in the lot on your left as you enter our complex, next to the Feeding the Foothills sign. Once parked, please walk along the crosswalk, across our loading dock, and wait for your shift leader at the green picnic tables or in the lobby.

Map apps like Google Maps like to bring folks to our rear door instead of the volunteer entrance, so if it tries to take you past the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store into a lot between two buildings, turn around and make a left at the triangular island where Industrial Ave splits. Our parking lot will be the first lot on your left. See map below. Lines in pink are driving directions, yellow is where to go once you've parked. 

This shift is a little bit of everything! This shift is a bit of a "wild card" as you will likely be asked to help with a few different tasks during the shift depending on what is needed. There may be some last-minute produce packing, meal kit packing, salvage packing, sorting, or maybe even a few other random projects. 

We'll let you know what's on the agenda once you arrive, so make sure that if you sign up for this shift, you're open to doing a few different things!

Physical demands:* Standing and walking for 1-2 hours Lifting banana boxes full of product (up to 25lbs) from floor level to 4ft high Reaching into bins at floor level to place items or retrieve them

*As with all our shifts, these are not firm requirements, merely a heads up regarding the general activity involved in the shift. If you are interested in this activity but unsure if it's the right fit, we're happy to figure out accommodations or adjustments that will allow you to participate safely and comfortably!

Shifts close ten minutes after the scheduled start time. In order to provide adequate instruction and safety information to all volunteers, we cannot admit folks who arrive later than ten minutes past the scheduled start time, and we ask that you only sign up if you are able to stay for the full duration of the shift. 

This shift is a little bit of everything! On Thursday afternoons, we often have several projects or tasks to finish up as we head into the weekend. This shift is a bit of a "wild card" as you will likely be asked to help with a few different tasks during the shift, depending on what is needed. There may be some last-minute produce packing, sorting and bagging Starbucks product for Friday distributions, meal kit packing, salvage packing, sorting, or maybe even a few other random projects. 

We'll let you know what's on the agenda once you arrive, so make sure that if you sign up for this shift, you're open to doing a few different things!

Physical demands:* Standing and walking for 1-2 hours Lifting banana boxes full of product (up to 25lbs) from floor level to 4ft high Reaching into bins at floor level to place items or retrieve them

*As with all our shifts, these are not firm requirements, merely a heads up regarding the general activity involved in the shift. If you are interested in this activity but unsure if it's the right fit, we're happy to figure out accommodations or adjustments that will allow you to participate safely and comfortably!

Shifts close ten minutes after the scheduled start time. In order to provide adequate instruction and safety information to all volunteers, we cannot admit folks who arrive later than ten minutes past the scheduled start time, and we ask that you only sign up if you are able to stay for the full duration of the shift.