Volunteer
Volunteer Opportunities
As a nonprofit with limited resources, we are reliant on the time and talents of our volunteer program participants. Learn more about our individual and corporate group volunteer opportunities.
Corporate Group Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteering with City Harvest is a great way for your company to increase employee morale, reach out to your community, and help end hunger in New York City. Corporate volunteer teams help rescue and distribute thousands of pounds of food everyday through the following programs:
Mobile Market
Mobile Market is a hands-on way to work with City Harvest staff to provide two valuable products: fresh produce and nutrition education. Every week City Harvest sets up an on-site market at one of our community food programs to distribute fresh produce to clients and provide them with nutrition education resources. Your company will assist in set-up, food distribution, and clean-up.
Working at Mobile Market is a great way for companies and organizations to promote team building. Teams of 5 to 25 volunteer at Mobile Market, staffing the produce distribution tables and interacting with people in the community.
Dates available: There are Mobile Market sites in two boroughs (Bronx and Staten Island) and each market takes place twice a month. Bronx Mobile Markets are the second Saturday and fourth Wednesday of the month and Staten Island Mobile Markets are the first Tuesday and third Saturday. The markets run from 9 am to 12:30 pm and are easily accessible by public transportation. Learn more about Mobile Market.
Contact Volunteer Services or call 646.277.7821 for more information on bringing a corporate team to Mobile Market.
Street Fleet
Street Fleet is a corporate volunteer program where teams pick up 20 pounds of food or less from a donor and deliver it to a City Harvest community food program. This helps City Harvest free its trucks for larger food pickups while continuing to connect all available excess food with hungry New Yorkers who need it.
Companies may choose to own a route in their area, with employee teams taking turns to complete pick-ups and drop-offs. Most pick-ups occur between 2 pm and 4 pm or after work and are easy to complete during your lunch hour or on your way home. City Harvest will provide equipment and come to your office to train employees in food safety procedures.
Street Fleet Volunteers tell us...
"My husband is from Sierra Leone, West Africa and I grew up in New York City. We are both personally familiar with hunger. City Harvest provides me the opportunity to help alleviate some of the suffering related to hunger."
—Tamiko Kamara, Morgan Stanley
"The key thing for me is that you really get to see the people that youÌre impacting. ItÌs a small price for us to pay, just a little help, but you see how much it means to them. I walk by my agency, PeterÌs Place, every day when I commute, and it's a good feeling to be involved with them."
- Michael Keyles, Credit Suisse
Contact Brian Stern or call 917.351.8745 to find out whether it is possible to start a Street Fleet team in your area.
Greenmarket Team
Volunteering to work with City Harvest at the Union Square Greenmarket benefits both New York State farmers and hungry New Yorkers. Volunteer teams visit the market to collect excess food from farmers and load it onto City Harvest trucks, which deliver the food directly to community programs in the five boroughs. The entire effort takes less than two hours and can be done right after work.
Your company may want to partner with City Harvest to be responsible for the Greenmarket rescue for a particular month or day of the week. Each week/month a different team from your company can participate.
Dates available: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday evenings between April and January.
To sign-up as a Greenmarket Rescue Team, contact Volunteer Services or call 646.277.7821.
Food Drives
While City Harvest rescues excess food from all kinds of food establishments, we also rely on donations of nonperishable food collected during food drives to help stock food pantries. City Harvest picks up nonperishable food items from offices, schools, and places of worship and delivers them to community food programs.
We will supply you with tips for running a successful food drive, helpful suggestions for maximum participation, and a City Harvest poster. Learn more about running a food drive.
Contact Brian Stern or call 917.351.8745 for more information.
Holiday Cards
City Harvest's holiday cards provide a unique opportunity to share warm wishes with business associates, family and friends whole helping to feed hungry New Yorkers. Each year, we offer two different designs to choose from. Your cards can be personalized with your company logo and/or a personal message and are an ideal way to send your business's holiday greetings. Portions of the cards are tax-deductible.
Cards are available for purchase and may be viewed and purchased online. For more information please contact Daniel Morgan at 917.351.8762.
Food Shows/Food Rescues
Immediately following restaurant and food industry trade shows at the Jacob Javits Center, teams of volunteers hit the floor to rescue any leftover food from exhibitors who want to donate food to City Harvest. Depending on the size of the show, between 15 and 300 volunteers are needed to collect nutritious food, which is delivered within 24 hours to some of the more than 600 community food programs in our network.
Contact Volunteer Services or call 646.277.7821 for more information.
Skip Lunch Fight Hunger
Skip Lunch Fight Hunger is a citywide initiative that asks individuals to donate their lunch money to City Harvest. This year's Skip Lunch Fight Hunger took place on Wednesday, May 6, 2009. In 2008, over 15,000 New Yorkers from hundreds of corporate offices, friends & family teams, and individuals participated in the campaign, raising over $500,000 in a single day to help feed over 30,000 children and their families for the entire summer.
To sign up for Skip Lunch Fight Hunger or to learn more, click here, email us or call 917.351.8764.
Office Team
We rely on the generosity of our volunteers to assist with daily office duties. Help us organize events and ongoing food rescue activities, make phone calls to donors, or assist us in sending out mailings.
Days/Times: Weekdays as needed, 9 am to 5 pm
Location: City Harvest office
Please contact Volunteer Services or call 646.277.7821 for more information.
Special Events
You don't have to make a long commitment to become a volunteer. Join our special events team and help us make our many events throughout the year successful. You can rescue food at the end of an industry show, distribute City Harvest literature, collect canned food, or help with fundraisers. City Harvest events are a lot of fun, and you get to work with great people. Learn more about our special events.
Please contact Volunteer Services or call 646.277.7821 for more information.
Fruit Bowl
City Harvest is seeking graduate and undergraduate nutrition and dietetic students to join the Fruit Bowl Team, an initiative that supports early childhood-focused programs by introducing a regular supply of fresh fruit to New York City children.
Fruit Bowl nutrition volunteers facilitate interactive nutrition games and activities with children ages three to five and six to twelve at an assigned site. If you enjoy working with children and have a passion for nutrition, this is the volunteer experience for you. Learn more about Fruit Bowl.
To apply contact Sarah Pearlman, Manager of Childhood Nutrition or call 917.351.8772.
Operation Frontline
Share Our Strength and City Harvest have partnered to provide Operation Frontline in New York City. Operation Frontline is a nutrition education and financial planning program. This direct outreach program mobilizes culinary and nutrition professionals to teach cooking classes focusing on nutrition and food budgeting to people who are at risk of hunger and malnutrition in New York City.
Culinary and nutrition professionals volunteer their time to lead the classes, which run for six weeks and are held at City Harvest agencies. City Harvest is seeking graduate and third and fourth year undergraduate nutrition and dietetics students to be Nutrition Facilitators for a six week nutrition and cooking education program.
These hands-on, interactive classes are provided at City Harvest agencies including community centers, food pantries, soup kitchens, after-school programs, senior centers, and rehabilitation centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City. Consisting of eight different curricula in five different languages, Operation Frontline is designed to meet the needs and interests of adults, children, teenagers, families, and persons living with HIV and AIDS.
Classes are ongoing throughout the year, and are a great opportunity to test your teaching and nutrition skills while making a difference. The time commitment is a total of five hours per week for six consecutive weeks. Bilingual students especially encouraged to apply. Learn more about Operation Frontline.
