April is Volunteer Appreciation Month and the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County will be shining a spotlight throughout the next several weeks on our amazing volunteers, who enable us to do our work to battle food insecurity throughout the county.
Our volunteers come from different backgrounds and places in the world. They range from toddlers to seniors. They are students, working professionals, retired members of the community and more. Some volunteers come as a group and others on their own. They all have different reasons for volunteering and they all choose different ways to engage with the Foodbank. Through their differences, our volunteers share one thing in common: they are all helping to end hunger in our community.
Some of our volunteers are so committed that they feel like staff. They come 2-5 times every week and have designated projects and tasks that they have been trained to do. Other volunteers come once a week and do more general assistance like cleaning or sorting goods. We also have people that come once a month, once a year or just one time during their vacation in Santa Barbara County. Every hour that a volunteer gives to the Foodbank counts, and we appreciate each person that offers us their time.
Our volunteers are people that want to make a difference in our community. They are individuals seeking purpose and ways to give back to those less fortunate. Sometimes our volunteers are students that are serving for course credit. Other times they might be business professionals at a corporate team building event. Regardless of their reasons, we can’t do what we do without them! Our volunteers are the backbone of this organization regardless of why they choose to donate their time and talent.
If you are looking for ways to get involved with the Foodbank as a volunteer, please visit our volunteer webpage (/give-help/volunteer/) or email us at volunteersb@foodbanksbc.org.