Volunteering with the GVFB is an impactful way to provide healthy food to those in need. Thanks to our generous volunteers, we can support 15,000 clients directly and 141 Community Agency Partners – each month! Last year our volunteers donated 60,000 hours of their time – the equivalent of about 31 full-time staff.
Some benefits of volunteering:
We have taken the following precautions to ensure that everyone feels comfortable:
Volunteering at the GVFB Warehouse is a dynamic opportunity to support our operations department. Duties can include assembling nutrition program packs, date and quality checking donations, building orders, and assisting with cleaning and maintenance.
Volunteers will assist our staff with direct food distribution across our three sites: Vancouver, Burnaby, and New Westminster. Volunteering at our distribution locations provides one–on–one interactions with food bank clients who are in need of weekly food support.
Our Vancouver and Burnaby CAP markets provide weekly pick-up opportunities for approximately 100+ Community Agency Partners (CAPs). CAPs include housing agencies, neighbourhood houses, after-school programs, transition houses, First Nations centres, and many other organizations.
Throughout the year we hold community events to promote the GVFB, educate the public about what we do and generate donations. Events range from golf tournaments and grocery campaigns to festivals and seasonal events like Fore for Food.
Looking for a way for your team to give back to the community? Sign up as group volunteers.
Ready to donate your time to GVFB? Learn more to see what roles are available for you.
For more resources, please log in to your Better Impact account.
All volunteers must complete the application process and sign up for shifts through our volunteer portal (My Impact). We cannot accommodate drop-in volunteers.
Individual Volunteers:
As of February 21st, we will pause our intake for individual applications and will reopen based on operational needs.
Group Volunteers:
To explore the group schedule, start by submitting the Group Volunteering Application form. Please contact [email protected] to inquire about specific dates and opportunities.
All individual volunteers are required to complete the Criminal Record Check form. This is a free process offered through the GVFB. Once received, this form will be sent by the GVFB to the Ministry of British Columbia to be reviewed and processed.
If you receive a fingerprints request letter, you will need to make an appointment at your local RCMP detachment. The letter means the BC Ministry requires confirmation of your identity as there could be someone with a similar name and/or date of birth who is flagged in their system. We will reimburse the cost associated with obtaining fingerprints. Please send us an email with the receipt to [email protected] to receive your reimbursement.
We will only accept group applications that have a minimum of 5 individuals. Group shift sizes depend on the type of shift and location of the site.
You can submit a volunteer application once 12 months have passed since your last GVFB client visit.
Unfortunately, we are not able to accommodate these requests.
We require volunteers to stay for the entire shift to avoid disrupting the operational flow of our orientation, health and safety briefing and volunteer work.
The health and safety of our staff, volunteers, clients, and community partners are very important to us. To prevent the spread of communicable disease, we ask volunteers to cancel their shifts when experiencing illness.
Volunteers are not insured by WorkSafeBC should an injury occur at one of our volunteer sites.
We want to recognize and support our volunteers. Once you have completed 80 hours of volunteering you can request a reference letter at [email protected].
We do not provide:
Yes! Our 4 main volunteer sites are accessible by transit. Parking availability varies among our locations, we suggest volunteers commute via transit when possible.
GVFB Warehouse, Burnaby Distribution and Head Office are located at 8345 Winston Street, Burnaby.
Production Street Skytrain, 10-minute walk.
Vancouver Distribution Site is located at 295 Terminal Avenue, Vancouver.
Main Street – Science World Skytrain station, 5-minute walk.
Vancouver CAP Market is located at 1405 Thornton Street, Vancouver.
Main Street – Science World Skytrain station, 10-minute walk.
New Westminster Distribution Site is located at 613 Queens Avenue, New Westminster.
New Westminster Skytrain station, 15-minute walk.
If you have not volunteered/signed up for a shift within a year your profile will be archived.
To reactivate your account, please contact [email protected].
