Stop by once and we guarantee you’ll be back!
It takes a lot of work to keep Baltimore’s kids fed over the weekend, and we rely on volunteers like you to help us accomplish our mission!
We are always looking for folks to lend a hand, whether its packing meal bags, prepping fruit cups, or delivering to our partner schools, we can all make a difference!
Interested in pitching in? Make sure you complete our volunteer waiver before stopping by for the first time! Once you’ve completed the form, take a look at our Volunteer calendar for upcoming dates!
Volunteer Opportunities
- Packing Meal Bags: Each weekend of the school year, we send home bags of non-perishable food items for students and their families. Volunteers will fill plastic bags with about ten pounds of food items, including canned veggies, protein, rice, pasta, etc. This activity typically lasts about an hour and requires some walking and light lifting. Volunteers are invited to also assist with preparing our facility for the next group, but this is not mandatory.
- Fruit Prep: Some of the single-serve food items we use, like fruit cups, need to be bundled for inclusion in our bags. Participants will bundle items into ziploc bags. This is a low physical impact activity that can be completed seated and requires little lifting and no walking. Prepping events usually last about 60-90 minutes.
- Sorting: Some items we order from the Maryland Food Bank need to be examined and sorted. Volunteers will look for “Best By” dates, examine packaging, and sort items by type. This activity requires some lifting and reading of small print.
- Driving: We are always looking for new folks to deliver bags to our partner schools. Deliveries occur on Thursday mornings between 8am and 1 pm.
- Typically Sedan-style vehicles can fit about 50 bags and SUVs can accommodate up to 80
- Once a month deliveries include bread packed in boxes
- If you drive a pick-up, we request that you have a tonneau or other bed cover to protect the bags en route
- We cannot guarantee you will deliver to the same school each week
Additional Opportunities
- Assembling Bags – We would love to send a backpack home each week stuffed with food, but to ensure we reach as many families as possible, we use doubled up plastic bags to contain each week’s menu. The thin, inner bag is tied to keep the food together while the outer bag is a bit easier for our kids to carry. We occasionally ask volunteers to prepare bags during packing sessions but volunteers can also pick up a box of inner and outer bags and assemble them at home on their own schedule. This is a very helpful way to get involved if our sessions don’t work for your schedule or you’re a student looking to accrue Student Service Learning hours. Email volunteer@weekendbackpacks.org for more information
- Collections – Throughout the year we conduct a variety of drives to support our kids in other ways. During the fall and winter we collect and distribute cold weather gear and in the summer we collect school supplies for distribution in the fall. Email volunteer@weekendbackpacks.org for more information on active drives.
