Volunteer Opportunities

Dear volunteers,

We have some MARVELOUS opportunities for you!

FOOD PROCESSING

APPLESAUCE - We will be canning applesauce Wednesday, December 9th and Thursday, December 17th, in three shifts per day, with at least 20 volunteers per shift. 36,000 pounds of Granny Smith apples donated by a California orchard, along with a donation from Amalgamated Sugar, and a generous donation of cans, lids and facility by the LDS church will allow us to can applesauce in great quantities. But we need you!

Each shift will begin with a 30-minute orientation. Volunteers will then suit up in aprons, hair & beard nets, gloves and earplugs. Some will help cut the blossom end out of the apples, and others will help fill the kettles and cans and tend the equipment. Stools are available for those who have trouble standing for a long time.

This all takes place at the LDS Garden City Cannery, 604 E. 46th St. Garden City 83714. Volunteers should be age 16+. Photography is only allowed outside the building, smoking is only allowed in a designated smoking area north of the parking

Please let me know what shift(s) will work for you: 9:00 am-1:00 pm, 12:30-4:30 pm and 4:00-8:00 pm.



POWDERED MILK - If those shifts don’t work for you, or you would like something a little different, a new and very flexible volunteer opportunity is now available – also at the Cannery - repacking powdered milk in the dry-pack canning area at the same facility; funding has been made available to pack 90,000 pounds - about 20,000 cans. It can be during the cannery shifts above or during regular dry-pack hours. You choose your hours. Here’s what the cannery manager says:

“Our dry pack hours are Mon and Fri 9 to 3. Tues, Wed, Thurs 9 to 6. Sat 9 to 12. We also can schedule appointments for Tues, Wed, or Thurs 6 to 8 pm. People are free to walk in anytime during those hours to do dry pack canning. The maximum we can handle is 12 people at a given time. There are no set shift times. As of today we only have three groups with reservations between now and Dec. 18th: Sat Nov 21, Tues pm Dec 1, and Thurs pm Dec 3 have been reserved. “

If you want to come in the evening, contact the cannery directly to make sure there’s room, as there are sometimes groups that schedule: 208-375-7893. If you’d like to come during the day, grab a friend or two and come on down. They said it’s usually pretty slow. Just tell them when you call or visit that you want to repack for the Foodbank. They’ll show you just what to do.



WAREHOUSE – Individuals and smaller groups up to 20-25 people are welcome to help sort or repack donated food. Afternoon shifts are available 3:30-5:30 on the following days as of this writing: 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 16, 17, 29, 30, 31. This information is subject to change. All our December evenings and weekends are full. All of November is full. While we don’t serve holiday meals, many of our 227 partner agencies do so. You are welcome to contact the pantries listed on our website. Here’s the list of Treasure Valley pantries: http://www.idahofoodbank.org/PDF%20Files/Treasure-Valley-Pantry-List.pdf



EVENTS

HYMNS OF THANKSGIVING – This lovely event, a moving celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday, is coming up Sunday, November 22 at 7:30 pm in the Qwest Arena. No tickets are required, thanks to sponsors. Everyone is invited. Guests will be invited to make a monetary donation to the Foodbank, and many of them do. We will need some volunteers to assist in distributing programs before the event and collecting donations afterward. It’s very easy to do, especially if you are planning to go anyway. Plan on being there at 6:15 pm (doors open at 6:30) and staying until about 9:30 or 10pm. Volunteers should dress as ambassadors of the Foodbank, business casual or better.

EMPTY BOWLS – all the bowls are about in, thanks to generous volunteers and donors - and we are gearing up for the best Empty Bowls event ever! Plan to come down to the Boise Centre on the Grove to check out the thousands of bowls (buy!) Our volunteer schedule is filled at this time, but there will be hot soup and bowls aplenty 11 am – 5 pm.

SANTA SORT will not be held this year. Since it came at such a busy, stressful time, and required a lot of staff, we decided to retire it in favor of opening up weekday afternoon shifts, which have proved very successful in getting work done!















Cindy Hale

Coordinator of Volunteer Services

3562 South TK Ave.

PO Box 5601

Boise, Idaho 83705

PH: (208) 336-9643 ext. 236

FX: (208) 336-9692

http://ifbvol.wordpress.com/

Check out volunteer opportunities

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