I agreed to be a Loader. A Loader, I was told, had to have the ability to lift at least 50-70…read morepounds for three hours. Naturally, I saw this as a challenge, and I accepted. The Greater Boston Food bank employs 14,500 volunteers and provides 19.5 million meals to 320,000 people in New England annually, not just Boston. Volunteers allow the GBFB to defer nearly $600,000 in payroll costs. Wow. Volunteers help in many ways, but mainly by inspecting, sorting and re-packing food at the Roxbury warehouse. Here is what my team accomplished in an afternoon shift: . Number of volunteers: 43 . Total pounds of food sorted: 10,412 (Ten Thousand Pounds!) . Total pounds of food salvaged: 8,330 . Pounds of food sorted per volunteer: 194 . Meals made possible per volunteer: 149 . Total meals made possible by NAIOP volunteers: 6,407 There are many ways to help. You can donate money. You can donate food. You can volunteer for a less physically demanding job. Just do something.

If you're looking for a place to volunteer, this is it. Good for singles or groups. Call ahead,…read moresign in, get ready to sort. Huge new clean place used to sort donated food. It's awesome. You get a rundown on food safety, what to look for, how the process works, then you're off to the main room to sort. It's actually kinda fun. And the facility is nice and new so it's definitely safe and good. Bonus - they feed you expired candy and crap after you're done! Yay!?

If you're looking to work hard as a volunteer, the American Red Cross Food Pantry is the place…read more Especially on days when they're distributing food to clients. I was here on a Wednesday morning. Including the other group of volunteers (that my group didn't know) I'd say there were about 25 of us. So if you're looking for a big group activity, distribution day is your ticket. And for the the 4ish hours that we were there, I think we were busy about 98% of the time.. which for those frequent volunteers out there.. isn't always the case on site. Just a little background, the food pantry is in Roxbury. Easily reachable by T or tons of buses. From their website, it says their clients include "senior citizen immigrants, single parents, families in transition, low-income families, homeless individuals, and those living with HIV." Those that qualify can come in for groceries once a month if they meet the USDA guidelines. They must present an ID for each member of the household. Being curious, I checked the USDA website and interestingly enough, post college and pre - full time job I could have qualified for food assistance. Hmm.. We arrived around 8 AM and the day started off with packing "wet bags". Those coming in for food get a wet bag (veggies/salad/etc.), a dry bag (cereal/pasta/Slim Jims/etc), a can bag (more veggies/tomato sauce/etc), and a protein (that day it was beef and whole turkeys for families of 2 or more). Families with babies may also qualify for baby food but everyone pretty much gets the same thing. Later on, I was in the distributing line. Clients check in to the computer and then they come over with a laminated card stating how many family members they have. So of course, the more family members.. the more bags. It can get a bit hectic and it takes some coordination but you get the hang of it. After 12PM, is lock down. Things get put away and the place gets a good sweeping. It was a very interesting experience. The people walking in didn't seem like they needed "assistance". It was generally a diverse population with mostly minorities but they weren't dressed in a certain way, a few had cars, and one guy was listening to an iPod. One of the coordinators said that people would come in and say that they just lost their job earlier that week or this little bit of groceries is what gets them by. Many come every month without fail. In these difficult times, I can definitely see how a few days of groceries can make all the difference. Especially for a family. The coordinators said they saw a record number of people this Thanksgiving. We actually served 400 people that day (and that doesn't include the 1-9+ family members they were picking up food for). So as you can see, every hour of your time can make a world of difference. You can volunteer by yourself or with a group. OR you can run a food drive at your school or job. See the website for details and contacts.

Wow! I had a GREAT volunteer experience here. I went on a Wednesday morning from 8:30a-12 with…read moreBoston Cares. It's (the Red Cross Food Pantry) one of the most efficiently run, friendly, "helping" organizations I've seen. They get the people in and out QUICKLY, and with bags of NICE, QUALITY foods, not just some old beat up cans and a bag of beans. The Red Cross Staff is wonderful, and they will have something for you to do- be it helping to distribute bags of groceries, assisting with line control, packing bags, etc. They begin ON TIME, and end ON TIME If you need assistance, this is also a GREAT place to come. Not a lot of hassle, just basic stuff to be sure you need services, you're treated with friendliness and dignity, and as mentioned, you don't get crapola, you get GOOD, healthy food. In order to feed as many people as possible, you can only come once a month. 5 STARS! BRAVO, Red Cross!

What an amazing place that carbs about the community. Was here for volunteer work and quality…read morematters when it came to separating items for donations. I like that care is put into this organization. Donations that were damaged, stained, smelled, etc were trashed. Just because people get donations doesn't mean the deserve poor quality items. I truly enjoyed volunteering here and would definitely do it again. Please donate any new or gently used goods here. It helps people who need it.

I've volunteered here 3 times in last 4 or so months and it's truly incredible. I need to sign up…read morefor more! You get grouped off to different stations (shoes, big sort, sizing, or building outfits, etc.), and by the end of the two hour shift, the staff is able to summarize everything each station completed. You can see and hear the immediate impact you're making on children at risk of clothing insecurity in the Greater Boston Area. It was super easy signing up online as a volunteer group, and I couldn't recommend it more.

This is an amazing resource for homeless and poor women in Boston. Rosie's is not only a shelter,…read morebut also runs classes, distributes clothing, cooks hot meals, and manages a food pantry. Many women in my community have lived at Rosie's place when faced with unstable or unsafe housing. I have been lucky enough to volunteer at Rosie's food pantry. This is a lean and efficient operation. When I was there, it was managed by an experienced, smart lady named Maria, who had worked there many years. A few days before Thanksgiving, the limited stock was heartbreaking. Though 60 women came through, there were only enough cans of tuna for about half of the women. Rosie's is always in need of donations and volunteers. Is tuna on sale-10 for $10? Buy 10 for Rosie's! Organize a toiletries drive at your place of work! Donate your kids' old books! You will be a hero! This is a great place to volunteer with friends and a great place to do something important that benefits your community.

I give shelter really big fat Zero not good at all toward myself. Since day one i got spoke down…read moretoo and totally disrespected behavior from them against me. The third I been there I was told three days in a row to wake up no sleeping in this place. Actually I was sitting in a room charging my phone I have been ill several times being on 5 different medicines and over three times explain to them that on a lot medication and have disability call narcolepsy in which brain control when go to sleep? So I'm under doctors care. I let plenty of time I have disability but since I don't look like a am a person disability they don't believe you. Other time I got bullied by the staff, men I never seen there working strangers come up me give orders like am a criminal then I address their violated behavior toward they don't like to be disrespectful like they show me some women claim she isa staff person come a word call suspended like she is Actually a judge. So mention I suggest you stay off social media you have across of public harassment. Now I'm planning to file a bullying complaint against this organization with Attorney General/Charities division for cruel and unusual punishment. Also, all this was said for humiliation and verbally. I got no formal notice written. JH my initials

FFF is a local nonprofit org that delivers perishable food and produce to many smaller charities…read moreand nonprofits such as homeless shelters that serve meals or have meal programs. FFF solicits surplus or leftover food from local restaurants and farmers that would otherwise go to waste. FFF daily delivers this food to the needy people that need it usually within 24 hours of it being donated. FFF is a great nonprofit that does great things. I volunteered here once and helped them build a huge walk in refrigerator. Bravo to this fine local charity.

I second how awesome food for free is. I work with them to organize their pickups at the whole…read morefoods market that I work at, and I honestly look forward to seeing them every day. The drivers are really friendly, and it's such a badass cause. I know that this isn't such a yelp-ish business or place, but I can't pass up giving these guys their props for helping to bring a little charity to an increasingly conservative/uber-capitalist city as boston has become. I can't remember who said it but on the back of all their trucks reads: "When I feed the poor, they call me a saint; When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." I'm no communist but I can't say enough about this sort of thing.

Boston Cares pairs you up up with non profits of your choice at convenient times. It's really easy…read moreand excellent way to volunteer at places all around boston. I can't stress this enough how easy it is to volunteer. The diversity of organizations as well is superb. They offer everything from food kitchens to the symphony! To join they require a $30 one time registration fee and you must attend an online (zoom) orientations. Stress free all around, and such an amazing way to interact with our community!

Could some additional checking in and some additional outlets. I have over 200 hours and I call…read moreabout some jobs and no one ever called me back. Still a good resource

I work in the non-profit sector so volunteering is my job. Whenever I've needed to find some…read morereliable, hard working, up to do anything people... I turn to this meetup group, and I'm never let down. It's so great to have a go-to bunch of people, some of them perfect strangers, that are so willing to lend a helping hand without wanting anything in return. These individuals volunteer solely because they can. So, if you have some spare time... check them out... there is always something to help out at and there is quite a variety of things to choose from!

Great group! There's no commitment beyond the one-time volunteering events you can sign up for when…read moreyou want to on meetup.com or through their website. You get to meet some pretty nice and cool people. Plus, they have a wide array of events, so there's something for everyone. There's also social gatherings from time to time, to connect with the people you volunteer with. Well worth it!

Outstandingly fresh vegetables will make you a homebody all summer. It's a crime to eat out when…read moreyour pantry is full of such delicious produce. Shares seem a bit pricey when you write the check at the beginning of the season, but they are more than fair if you make the pick up every week, and are true bargains if you fully avail yourself to the abundance of herbs, beans, tomatoes, peppers and flowers that you pick yourself in the fields. Management bends over backwards to satisfy diverse shareholder preferences and has struck a fine balance between the need for sufficient quantities of staples and a wide variety of choices for the foodies. One share will easily feed a family of four, but a share can be split, making it work well for couples, too. Sign up early. Shares sell out fast.

We've had a farm share for 2 years now. The vegetables are so fresh and delicious that we felt sad…read moregoing away on vacation. Their produce tastes better than anything I've ever found at a farmer's market, and is of course totally organic. You pay ahead when you reserve your summer share in January. It seems like a hefty sum, but you get a lot of produce, so it actually works out to be quite reasonable -- we split the share among 5 adults and still end up not eating everything. You pick veggies up every week, which we look forward to doing because you get to say hello to the cheery farmers and go into the fields yourself to pick certain items. There's nothing better than a tomato warmed by the sun and eaten right off the vine! You get to learn about new veggies you didn't know you liked (hakurai radishes??) and for us city kids, it's cool to see what a familiar veg looks like when it's growing out of the ground (when I started going here I couldn't tell a carrot from a broccoli plant). We've done all three share programs they offer: summer, fruit, and winter. You have to join for the summer to be eligible for the other two. I recommend both the summer and winter shares, but I wouldn't do the fruit share again. That's because they partner with another farm for the fruit and so it's not organic -- also they don't give you much fruit and generally it's not as high quality as their veggies. But the summer and winter shares are excellent! Extra bonus points for being a community farm and for their work helping the hungry.