Group Volunteer Opportunities

Meal Service Support:

Volunteer groups help to cook and/or serve meals under the direct supervision of our Meal Site Coordinators. FCCMP is responsible for planning the menu and sourcing all ingredients. Volunteers come ready to help during our set volunteer shifts.

Community Collaborator:

This selection does require an advanced level of communication and logistic skills.

Cook with us, utilizing FCCMP kitchens and equipment. Our Volunteer Coordinator will help you plan a menu that will work with the skill set of your group. With coordination, FCCMP will source needed ingredients from the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. Purchasing additional food items would be at the group’s discretion and expense.

Our ServSafe certified Meal Site Coordinator will be there on the day of service to guide you & your group through the cooking process. We are open to showing you a few culinary tricks we have learned throughout our years in the kitchen! FCCMP provides all packaging materials and beverages. Any special products or packaging needed must be communicated to our staff in a timely manner. Typically supplies are ordered once a month.

Community Hero:

This is for groups that have been volunteering with FCCMP for some time.

Ordering, preparation and logistics are assumed by the group, and led by the Group Lead. FCCMP will order ingredients from the Food Bank of Western of Western Massachusetts at your request. Purchasing other food items would be at the group’s discretion and expense. FCCMP will provide a Meal Site Coordinator to supervise and provide food safety support on the day of service.

Meal Sponsorship:

If your group is unable to cook but wants to support our efforts, a check can be made in the amount of $400 to Franklin County Community Meals Program. This sponsorship will not only feed people in need, but also support a local restaurant. In the memo, write “Meal sponsorship” and the funds will be allocated to a meal catered by a local restaurant.

A designated contact person (Volunteer Group Leader) of your choosing will be connected with the Site Coordinator of that meal site, who will work with them in planning and executing their menu. The Site Coordinator and other FCCMP staff/members will work with them to support their processes (ie. provide packing materials, and, if necessary, additional volunteers and supplemental food, etc.)

Your chosen Volunteer Group Leader will be responsible for the following:

• Coordinating volunteers (at least five)
• Staying in communication with the Volunteer Coordinator
• Arriving 15 minutes earlier than the rest of the volunteers to meet with your Site Coordinator and discuss the order of operations and timeline for meal preparations that day

“Having retired from full-time work in 2019, I was searching for a volunteer opportunity where I could serve our local community members in need, work with a group of individuals who were seeking the same, and utilize some of the organizational and leadership skills I gained in my career in an entirely different setting. Serving as a volunteer group leader for FCCMP has been challenging, rewarding, and fun, all at once! Challenging because there are always unexpected surprises creating a menu and preparing food for 100 people, rewarding because of the pride I experience collaborating with FCCMP's staff and mission, and fun as a result of the sheer joy I've felt during the camaraderie of our work and the results of our efforts. I have met people I likely would never have met had I not chosen to do this. Thank you for the opportunity, FCCMP!!” - Jan Gabriel, Volunteer Group Leader.

To look over the process for a VGL, click here.

The Orange Food Pantry can host small groups with prior coordination. Many local school groups participate in the weekly operations of our Pantry. Occasionally, the Food Pantry will seek groups seasonally for events, drives or pantry based maintenance projects. If you are a group interested in collaborating with us at the Orange Food Pantry, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator directly to arrange opportunities.

Our Greenfield community meal site serves many unhoused neighbors. As a supplement to prepared meals, we distribute an average of 85 bonus bags each Wednesday to ensure that our neighbors can eat between community meal offerings. To lead your own bonus bag brigade:

• Collect items for packing! Ready-to-eat proteins such as tuna or chicken salad kits, jerky, nuts, or protein bars are a great place to start. Then add in fruit leather, 100% juice fruit snacks, or dried fruit. Veggie straws, pea or lentil crisps help balance things out, and a small bottled water, carton of shelf stable milk or 100% fruit juice finishes things off! Some groups opt to add in treats as well!
• Pack your paper lunch bags. Some groups opt to decorate the bags with drawings or stickers!
• Load into totes. We provide totes for bulk packing. 20 bags are packed into each tote, and we ask you to label each tote with the date you packed!
• Drop off totes at Second Congregational Church between 1 and 4pm on Tuesday or Wednesday.

To learn more, visit fccmp.org/bbb

If your group is only available for a couple of hours outside of our meal or pantry operations, you can contact our volunteer coordinator at [email protected] to learn about ongoing projects we can use team support for! This is a great opportunity for school groups or co-workers or friends who want to bond through community service.

Have any questions about volunteering as a group? Contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Meghan Williams, at [email protected] with the subject line “Group Volunteer Inquiry”. We look forward to hearing from you!

(If you’re looking to sign yourself up as an individual, and you’re interested in helping our Site Coordinators accomplish tasks stemming from a large variety of needs, then you might be looking for our individual volunteer opportunities! Take a look at our webpage for that model here.