The Day of a Home Delivery Volunteer
The Ballard Food Bank has many volunteer opportunities. You can work the drive-thru handing out food, you can be a part of food recovery where you go to local grocery stores to collect food, you can help with home deliveries to bring food to people who can’t leave, or work in any other number of roles.
As a food delivery volunteer I was assigned one of the many delivery routes. During the coronavirus pandemic new routes have been added, but there have always been routes, mainly for senior citizens, as they can’t leave their house as easily to go to the food bank.
As a volunteer in this position I helped pack bags of food. When I arrived to go on the route I found that the bags are labeled with the names of the recipients and have already been packed with non-perishable items. I helped pack additions of produce, meat, eggs, and dairy.
Bags are packed according to dietary preferences and personal needs
The packing process is not random. When people sign up for home delivery they give a list of needs. For example, some people are no-cook so they only get prepared meals instead of hamburger meat or chicken breast. Clients also give preferences for what produce and type of meat they want so it’s important to pay attention to who wants what.
Once the bags were packed, I helped load the truck. This has to be done carefully so that the bags for the first stops are the most accessible and you don’t have to dig through the truck.
After everything was packed I grabbed the list of people and their addresses. Then I was ready to go! On food delivery routes someone drives the truck, usually a seasoned volunteer, and a ride along joins. I volunteered as a ride along for this home delivery route.
Once the truck is packed with bags of food, volunteers can head out for the home delivery route!
The driver mainly stays in the truck while the ride along brings the food to the door. However, some of the deliveries go to complexes so there are many people in the building that are getting deliveries. This takes teamwork so you must split up.
The deliveries are not all the same. Some people live in houses while others live in apartments where you must be buzzed in. There are some locations where the residents are waiting outside for their food.
When you knock on the doors, some people answer while some don’t so you leave the food at the door. The food delivery position is interesting as you get to interact with the people you deliver the food to. You get to meet their pets and see parts of the neighborhood that you normally wouldn't.
Adria Cooper, Ballard Food Bank Volunteer
Food delivery is just one of the rewarding volunteer opportunities at the food bank. No matter what you do for the food bank, you know that you are helping the community. Whether you wish to be a regular volunteer or a sporadic one, you will always be put to work. Find out more about volunteer opportunities at: www.ballardfoodbank.org/volunteer
-Guest post by Adria Cooper
Adria Cooper is a communications/social media volunteer with Ballard Food Bank. A life-long Ballard resident and student at Ballard High School, she is looking forward to becoming the Features Editor of The Talisman, BHS’s student newspaper, in the 2020-2021 school year.