Volunteer
Volunteers are a crucial part of our mission at Feeding San Diego. With an ambitious goal of ending hunger in San Diego County through food rescue, we rely on those willing to donate their time to our cause.
We have many volunteer opportunities at our Sorrento Valley headquarters as well as other locations in the community.
Whether you’re interested in sorting and packing produce for a family in need, supporting our food distributions, making personalized phone calls to thank our generous donors, or helping in another way — we’re glad you’re here!
Ready to jump in?
Volunteer Opportunities
with Feeding San Diego
Individual Volunteering
Feeding San Diego offers a variety of volunteer opportunities at our distribution center and in the community, sorting, packing, and distributing foods. Volunteers under 16 must have an adult chaperone with them to volunteer. Learn more about the rules and requirements.
Group Volunteering
Volunteering is a great team-building experience. We offer volunteer opportunities at our distribution center or off-site at one of our large-scale distributions. Learn more about volunteering as a group.
Girl Scout Climate
Controller Patch
Developed by SOLV Energy x Feeding San Diego, this Climate Controller patch educates Girl Scouts about the linkage between food waste and climate change. View the curriculum.
Rules for Volunteering
with Feeding San Diego
Before signing up to volunteer, please review the following rules. These policies help maintain the safety of our volunteers, staff, and the people we serve. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact the volunteer team using the form at the bottom of the page.
Feeding San Diego staff may ask volunteers to leave a volunteer shift if these policies are not followed.
- Running, horseplay, stepping on pallets, and throwing food are not permitted.
- Report any accidents or injuries immediately to Feeding San Diego staff.
- Only trained staff and designated Team Leaders are allowed to operate forklifts, pallet jacks, and other machinery.
- Sexual harassment, violence, or disrespectful conduct will not be tolerated.
- In the Distribution Center, all volunteers must be six years of age or older to participate.
- At food distributions in the community, all volunteers must be fourteen years of age or older to participate.
- All volunteers fifteen years of age or younger must have a chaperone over the age of 18.
- Closed-toe shoes are required for all volunteer opportunities – tennis or running shoes work great!
- No jewelry that poses a food safety hazard is allowed in our food handling area.
- Wear clothing that you don’t mind getting dirty!
- Feeding San Diego will provide you with food-safe gloves and we do not allow for outside gloves to be used.
- Please leave your valuables at home! Feeding San Diego will not be responsible for any missing personal belongings.
- Wash your hands before and after handling food items, even when wearing gloves.
- Volunteers are responsible for cleaning up their project area.
- Eating and drinking is only permitted in designated break areas.
Volunteer Hours
Feeding San Diego’s volunteer team is happy to sign service logs and provide service letters to our incredible volunteers. If you are keeping track of your volunteer hours for school, work, or your records, we’re here to help:
- You can view your progress at any time on our volunteer platform, Golden Volunteer! You can help ensure these hours are accurate by consistently signing in and out of your volunteer shift.
- Most schools and organizations accept our service logs. However, if you need a Service Letter, please contact our team at volunteersd@feedingsandiego.org at least one week before needed.
- Keeping a paper copy is also a good idea. You can print your volunteer service log via Golden or ask your Project Lead at the end of your shift.
Court-Ordered Volunteering
A Volunteer Manager must approve all court-ordered volunteers before they sign up for any volunteer shifts. Before being cleared, no hours will count toward the needed service letter. Only opportunities for Feeding San Diego’s food sorting shifts are eligible for court-ordered or diversion program hours.
Volunteer Zone
Volunteer Shout-Outs
We are so grateful for each and every one of our volunteers. After all, we couldn’t do what we do without you. In FY24 (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024), our amazing volunteers clocked 67,165 hours!
Below you’ll find some of our all-stars:
3,000 hours:
- Marjorie Zinner
- Mickey Sands
2,000 hours:
- Gregg Yonekura
- Gil Bolfango
- Audrey Gipson
1,000 hours:
- Marylu Ramirez
- Harriet Deppe
- Carmelle Remillard
- Ed Cooper
750 hours:
- Meredithe Mainquist
- Tom Fink
- Nancy Kane
500 hours:
- Janet Watkins
- Gerri Matthiesen
- Debra Bradshaw
- Cindy Dale
- Vicky Buchheit
- Megan McCarty
- Bill Smith
- Tone Guia
- Nord Yamauchi
- Scott Gruby
- Blake Hunter
250 hours:
- Diane Ichinaga
- Mary Ann Jones
- TN Guia
- Linda Vittori
- Gary Vittori
- Aiden Gruby
- Vicki Clark
- Steven Weindling
- Dan Lachenbruch
- Kieu Trando
- Mark Stengel
- Janet Mak
- Leslie Shan
- Bee Yoneda
- Amy Studer
- Christina Demellier
- Jessie Furrer
- Arthur Wang
- Candace Eckman
- Glenda Poliner
- Ray Henderson
- Wendy Herlosky
- Pavel Shostak
- Barb Boone
3,000 hours:
- Marjorie Zinner
2,000 hours:
- Mickey Sands
- Audrey Gipson
1,500 hours:
- Gregg Yonekura
- Gil Bolfango
1,000 hours:
- Carmelle Remillard
750 hours:
- Ed Cooper
- Andrew Heck
- Marylu Ramirez
- Nancy Kane
500 hours:
- Tom Fink
- Harriet Deppe
- Meredithe Mainquist
- Bill Smith
- Blake Hunter
250 hours:
- Cindy Dale
- Scott Gruby
- Janet Watkins
- Tone Guia
- Megan McCarty
- Debra Bradshaw
- Vicki Clark
- Linda Vittori
- Gerri Matthiesen
- Gary Vittori
- Nord Yamauchi
- Aiden Gruby
- Mary Ann Jones
- Jessie Furrer
- Ray Henderson
Volunteer Zoom backgrounds
We have created a set of Feeding San Diego branded Zoom backgrounds for our volunteers. Download one today to help spread awareness about Feeding San Diego and our mission.
To download, click on an image -> Right-click -> Save image.
