Thurston County Food Bank

We very literally could not do the work we do without the assistance of our volunteers. Some of the roles volunteers take on at the Food Bank include:

Van drivers pick up food from food drives in the community and make deliveries to schools and community organizations.
Co-pilots assist our drivers with their daily routes.
Baggers put together the pre-packaged bags of groceries at the WDC that go out to our satellite locations or to elementary students around the county.
Administrative volunteers check in clients that come for service, do critical data entry, and support us with phone reception at the food pantries and warehouse.
Service floor volunteers assist clients as they make their way through our Olympia and Lacey Food Pantries.
Kitchen volunteers take items purchased or donated in bulk (like dried beans, oatmeal, or foods rescued from restaurants) and repackage them into family size or individual portions at Olympia’s Food Pantry.
Warehouse Volunteers run the back-end of lifting, loading, and organizing to get food on the shelves for clients at both our food pantries and warehouse.
School Garden Volunteers teach nutrition classes alongside staff, bring students into their school’s garden during recess, and/or get their hands dirty in the garden helping plants grow for the fall.
Gleaning Volunteers harvest or collect fresh fruit and vegetables from local farms to bring to the Food Bank.
Summer Lunch Volunteers work in the kitchen at the Olympia’s Food Pantry preparing meals for low-income children throughout the county.
SuperSort Volunteers help go through thousands of pounds of mixed food donation boxes at the WDC, checking for quality and sorting them into categories that are easier to hand out to clients.