There are many ways to support people (and pets!) at The Friendship Center.
We appreciate your interest in using your time and skills to volunteer at The Friendship Center. We can validate community service required by courts, schools, and organizations. You must be 14 or older to volunteer at the pantry and 16 or older to volunteer at special events. If you’re younger than 14, but still want to give back, we encourage you to host a local drive or volunteer as a home delivery driver with a licensed guardian.
Bloomerang Learning & Tutorials
We want to prepare you for success using Bloomerang Volunteer. Please check out our resources on how to set up your account, navigate the app, and navigate the system.
Regular volunteers should download the Bloomerang Volunteer app to make scheduling yourself for shifts and checking in even easier.
Group Volunteers
We love to coordinate group volunteers whether you are a club, corporate team, school group, faith group, etc., and we are happy to find a time to have your group make an impact at The Friendship Center. Please contact Alison Cassity at info@friendshipcenterchicago.org to coordinate your group.
Onsite Programs
Food Pantry Service: shopping/bagging, greeting, client intake, stocking, sorting
Hot Meal: dinner prep, cooking, serving to-go meals
Pet Food Pantry: client intake, distribution, sorting
Home Delivery: pack boxes of groceries or deliver groceries to senior and home-bound clients on Saturdays; drivers must have own vehicle
Offsite Events & Activities
Farmers Market
Volunteer at community events
Current Needs
Extra help is needed during these times:
Mondays, Thursdays, & Fridays, 11:45am-2pm, 2pm-4:15pm: Shoppers/baggers
Mondays, Thursdays, & Fridays, 11am-2pm, 2pm-5pm: Stockers
Saturdays, 1 hour between 12pm and 3pm: Home Delivery Drivers – must have own vehicle
Third Saturday of Each Month, 8:30am-11:30am: Pet Food Pantry volunteers
COVID-19 Considerations
We love our volunteers! We want you to be safe and healthy. As such, we require all staff and volunteers to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and be prepared to show proof of vaccination.
Our current mask policy for volunteers and clients can be found here