Volunteering with NeighborImpact is a rewarding way to get involved and support our Central Oregon community. When you volunteer for NeighborImpact you can choose to be a one-time special event volunteer or support a specific program. Please fill out a Volunteer Application today and email, mail, or fax it to NeighborImpact.
How You Can Help
Participate in a Special Event
- Empty Bowls
- Foodie Crawl
- United Way Days of Caring
- Bend BrewFest
- I Heart Central Oregon
Volunteer with our Fresh to You Mobile Food Pantry!
You can help out in the following ways:
- Preparation & stocking: We need volunteers to help us stock and prepare the Fresh to You Mobile unit at our Redmond warehouse on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month. Volunteer tasks include stocking the mobile unit with dry goods, sorting produce into bins, and wiping down the mobile unit to ensure it is presentable and ready for distribution. To sign up to help with preparation and stocking, click here.
- Distribution: We need volunteers to assist at the Fresh to You distribution at Mosaic Medical in Prineville on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month. Volunteer tasks include helping clients sign in to the pantry, and assisting as a “personal shopper” by walking clients through the pantry and showing them what we have available on that day. To sign up to help with distribution, click here.
Volunteer with the Food Program
The Food Recovery Program has ample volunteer opportunities. Volunteers help with food drives, repacking food, sorting frozen meat, delivery driver ride-a-long assistance, washing food recovery bins, cleaning the warehouse, maintaining our vegetable garden, grounds maintenance and office assistance (filing, thank-you cards, mailings).
Depending on the assignment, necessary skills and expertise range from no experience necessary to food safety knowledge, customer service experience, and the physical ability to lift up to 50 pounds properly.
Each year, volunteers give approximately 2,400 hours of time. The program can easily use 500 volunteers, donating four hours a day, over the course of a year; we need more volunteers during food drives. Volunteer assignments range from one to eight hours. Volunteers can work when the food bank is open, Monday through Friday and occasional Saturdays, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. We also accommodate volunteers with alternative shifts, after-hours, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Our food bank is located at 2303 SW First Street, in Redmond, Oregon.
Volunteer with Head Start
NeighborImpact’s Head Start program builds success through child-focused, family-centered services that enhance social competence, school readiness, overall health and well-being. We have 25 classrooms in Bend, Redmond, Prineville, Sunriver, and La Pine.
Head Start volunteers will be provided with classroom training. Volunteers can help design their role in the classroom based on their interest, whether it be small groups, working one-on-one with a high needs student, doing art projects, reading aloud, or simply serving as a classroom helper.
Head Start volunteers are asked to serve on a weekly basis, as their schedule allows, during the school year, anywhere from 1-4 hours per week. If you are unable to work in the classroom, we also have projects you can work on from home that make a direct impact in the classroom. Projects range from building light tables or quiet spaces to cutting pieces for felt board literacy activities.
If you are interested in making a difference in the life of a child though Head Start, volunteering is easy. Please fill out the online Volunteer Application today and email, mail or fax to NeighborImpact.
Applicants for all Head Start positions are required to enroll in the Oregon Employment Department Child Care Division Central Background Registry, paying their online registry fee of $35.00. Registration must be complete before date of placement. Please click here for additional instructions pertaining to filling out the Central Background Registry form.
Volunteer with HomeSource
NeighborImpact’s HomeSource program strives to help Central Oregonians build and maintain assets by providing personal finance workshops, one-on-one coaching, and various financial programs to fit the needs of community members.
HomeSource regularly teaches Financial Education Workshops and Homebuyer Education classes. Workshop Volunteers are a great addition to these classes. These professionals, with experience in the field, can teach the portion that covers their area of expertise, utilizing the provided curriculum and following HUD compliance requirements. For a list of scheduled classes, visit www.neighborimpact.org/events
Support HomeSource in its mission by sharing our programs. Office/Marketing Support Volunteers are asked to serve on a weekly basis, anywhere from 1-4 hours per week. Some tasks may include engaging in marketing activities, prepping marketing materials and more!
If you want to make a difference in your community, complete a NeighborImpact Volunteer Application form and check the box the HomeSource, either Workshop Volunteer or Office Support. Volunteers are invited to an orientation session.
For more information regarding volunteer opportunities please contact:
Food Program – Carolyn Candela at 541-316-2037 or carolync@neighborimpact.org.
Early Care and Education – email hs-volunteers@neighborimpact.org.
HomeSource Program – Becca Hitt at 541-323-6538 or beccah@neighborimpact.org.
Applications and Forms
Individual Volunteer Application (online form English/Spanish)
Group Volunteer Application (online form)