Help by Volunteering

Last year the West Seattle Food Bank had 646 volunteers who served over 28,145 hours. That would be equivalent to 13.5 full time employees.

We are grateful to have so many local community members helping us in a variety of ways to carry out our mission of strengthening the community through the power of neighbors helping neighbors.

Volunteer Hours

The Food Bank’s volunteer shifts typically fall during regular business hours:

9:00 am – 3:00 pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday
10:00 am – 3:00 pm on Wednesday

The Clothesline shifts:

Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday
11:30 am – 1:00 pm

Volunteer Requirements:

Volunteers must accept and promote the mission, vision, values of the West Seattle Food Bank.
Volunteers must adhere to our policy to provide services without regard to race, color, age, sex, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, presence of any sensory, mental or physical disability.
Volunteers must maintain confidentiality of clients, other volunteers, and donors.
Volunteers are expected to follow all volunteer policies and procedures which will be provided during orientation
Potential Food Bank volunteers should come into the office anytime Monday — Friday and ask for our Operation Director, Lester Yuh. He’ll have you fill out a volunteer application and conduct a short interview to find your interests and time availability -OR- you can download the application here, fill it out and bring it with you.
Potential Clothesline volunteers should email volunteer@wshelpline.org or call 206.932.4357 to set an appointment.
Many employers have an Employee Match Program where they will monetarily match your volunteer hours back to the food bank. Be sure and check with your employer to see if they have such a program.

Volunteering with Groups

WSFB can occasionally accommodate a small group of volunteers from community groups and businesses. To schedule a small group for volunteering please contact Lester Yuh at the food bank at least 2-3 weeks in advance. An alternative way to get larger groups involved is to hold a food drive. Click to learn more: How to hold a food drive

Volunteering with Children

Due to safety concerns, volunteers working at the Food Bank must be at least 13 years old. At the Clothesline they must be 18 years old.
Volunteers under the age of 18 must have a parent/guardian sign their application as permission to volunteer.
Another way to get children involved is the PCC food re-packaging parties held at the Food Bank usually from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. on the second Monday, every other month (dates subject to change).
Those interested in attending must register with PCC. For more information please click here.
WSFB can also arrange for a food bank tour for your child, their organization or their school class, upon request.

Community Service

Court-Ordered Community Service
To apply for Court-Ordered Community Service you must come into the food bank office Monday – Friday 9 am – 2:30 pm, and ask for our Operations Director, Lester Yuh. He’ll have you fill out a volunteer application and have a short interview to find out your offense, how many hours you need, and time availability. OR you can download the application here, fill it out and bring it with you. An appointment is not needed.

WSFB cannot accept individuals for community service for any charges pertaining to theft, assault or any violent crime. You must have and present WSFB with all pertinent and appropriate court documents pertaining to the community service requirement.
We can provide you with letters and reports for the hours worked, however, it is your responsibility to request, obtain and forward these documents to your court.
If accepted, we may not be able to provide you with all of the volunteer hours to fulfill your entire community service requirement, so we always encourage you to look into other agencies.

Service Learning Requirements for School
We try to incorporate students into our volunteer schedule, but opportunities for school service learning are very limited to our operating hours, Monday – Friday 9am – 3pm, or Wednesday until 7pm. There are sometimes opportunities to volunteer during school break but these need to be scheduled in advance. Please see “Volunteer Requirements” above for the application process.