Volunteer with Us

Cook in Our Kitchen

Caring for Friends’ professional kitchen at 12271 Townsend Road, Philadelphia is looking for individuals or groups of 10 or more people interested in preparing food with our trained staff. Children need to be 12 years or older to volunteer in our kitchen.

Or Cook in Yours

Caring for Friends provides materials so you can make meals at home. You provide the contents, the food, and time to drop them off at a local food pantry. You can make and donate as many as you’d like. Many meals are prepared by caring neighbors in the comfort — and safety — of their homes on a regular basis throughout the year. Some are cooked in a community kitchen by a faith-based group or a group of friends at their home! Check out these tips for cooking at home.

You can pick up trays at our warehouse, or at a pantry/freezer site near you.

Visiting

Our visitor volunteers make weekly or bi-weekly home visits to deliver meals to seniors, veterans, or those with disabilities. Spending time with isolated neighbors and providing free food is what makes Caring for Friends different from other community service agencies.

Once you sign up, you’ll be matched with a client – or more than one – close to your work or home. You then spend about an hour per week to deliver meals and have a short visit. The meal can be made by you or picked up at one of our warehouses.

​​Delivering

Want to help, but can’t make an ongoing commitment? Volunteer with us as a driver!

We have generous organizations donating food, as well as people in need of food throughout the Philadelphia region, so no matter where you live or work, we can use your help!

Sign UpFreezer Site Locations

Volunteers who help assemble snack bags will place 6-9 items in a bag for our homebound seniors, people living on the streets or in shelters, and children and their families in need. The bags consist of a variety of items, such as a breakfast item, a caring note, and a drink! This is a great family activity, as we take kids as young as 8.

Sign Up Today

Learn to Make Snack Bags

Hunger is an issue 365 days a year, so volunteers are always needed! Join us at our warehouse to help with critical office work, such as data entry, phone outreach, and inventory. Some volunteer work may even be completed from your home.

Maintenance Projects

We rely on the help of the community to keep our facilities up and running and would greatly appreciate a gift of time to help with maintenance projects, such as:

• Equipment repair
• Warehouse revitalization (painting, flooring, etc)

For those who want to support our mission, but would prefer to do it from the comfort of their own home, we have at-home volunteer opportunities.

Write Caring Notes

In everything we do, we strive to provide not just food, but also friendship. Sometimes, this comes in the form of a caring note – a hand-written word of inspiration to brighten someone’s day. We are always in need of caring notes from caring people like you! Learn more about these notes and how you can get them to us.  We now have Coloring Caring Note Templates!*

*We do not accept caring cards for community service hours.

Write a Caring Note Coloring Caring Note Templates

Host a Virtual Food Drive

You can host a food drive through your computer – and because you’re donating funds instead of goods, we can stretch your money further! A $10 food drive donation can buy twice as much peanut butter, canned tuna, and some of our other most-needed items. Learn how to organize your own virtual food drive.

Host Virtual Food Drive Most Needed Food

Administrative/Skilled Volunteering

Many jobs can be done virtually, as can many volunteer opportunities for administrative projects. Whatever you’d like to do, we likely have a place for you. Contact us to learn how.

Snack Bags

You can make your own snack bags at home for folks facing hunger and homelessness. Find out how.

This typically off-site volunteer event occurs at the location of your choice, and makes for a great team-building experience. Groups of up to 20 make snack bags that your group purchases; bags consist of nonperishable, healthy food for our client friends and other individuals to ensure they have a hearty start to each day.

Office volunteers help keep Caring for Friends organized and connected so food, meals, and services reach our neighbors efficiently. Volunteers may assist with general office responsibilities, communicate with volunteers and community partners, organize records and supplies, maintain office and supply inventories, prepare volunteer materials, answer phones, enter data, and support mailings or special projects.

Volunteers may also help document and coordinate incoming food donations, prepared meals, and outgoing partner orders and distributions. Strong organization, communication, and basic computer skills are helpful, but training will be provided. We especially need two to three dependable office volunteers each day to provide consistent administrative support and help our programs run smoothly.

Volunteer groups help keep our warehouse organized and food moving efficiently to neighbors throughout Greater Philadelphia. Depending on the day’s needs, volunteers may sort and inventory rescued food, inspect and glean donated products, organize incoming deliveries, assemble shelf-stable food boxes, and prepare orders for distribution.

Volunteers may also assist as our community pantry partners arrive to pick up food for the children, families, seniors, veterans, and neighbors they serve. This hands-on experience gives groups an inside look at how food rescue becomes community impact—and how an organized warehouse helps Caring for Friends feed more people while reducing food waste.

Donor Communications volunteers help Caring for Friends build and strengthen relationships with individual donors, corporations, foundations, community organizations, and volunteer groups. Working with our fundraising and communications team, they may help prepare emails, make follow-up calls, update contact information, share impact stories, and keep supporters informed about our current programs, services, volunteer opportunities, and community needs.

Volunteers may also introduce supporters to Caring 250 sponsorship and giving opportunities and help schedule follow-up conversations with our team. Strong communication, organization, and relationship-building skills are helpful. This important role helps turn community interest into lasting support—so Caring for Friends can reach and feed 250,000 more neighbors across Greater Philadelphia.