VOLUNTEER
Your time can make a difference!
Most of the daily operations at Safe are run or assisted by volunteers.
Find out how you can be part of our amazing team who are finding purpose in giving back to their community!
Become a Volunteer at SAFE at Hwy 87!
Follow These Steps to Volunteer at SAFE:
Step 1: Read Volunteer Agreement
Step 3: Fill out Background Check Application
Step 2: Create an account in Civic Champs to fill out Volunteer Application and Sign Volunteer Agreement
Step 4: Sign-up for Current Volunteer Opportunites!
Individual Volunteer Opportunities at SAFE at Hwy 87
Food Distribution Volunteer Opportunities
at SAFE at Hwy 87
Morning Set-up
8am - 9am Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday Assist with setting up vegetables and food needed for morning service.
Parking Lot Attendants
8:45am - 11:45am Tuesday or Thursday or Saturday This volunteer position will check client’s appointments as they arrive in the parking lot and direct them where to park. This position will also direct clients out of the parking lot if they have arrived too early, as we have a small parking lot and waiting in cars for their appointments is not an option.
Food Shopping Assistants
9am - noon Tuesday or Thursday or Saturday If you enjoy being friendly and helpful to our neighbors, this volunteer role might be for you. You will assist a neighbor in going around the pantry helping them choose their food items, answer questions and navigate the space. This role will also be beneficial when a neighbor is shopping for more than one family. Spanish skills are helpful, but not required.
Baggers
9am - noon Tuesday or Thursday or Saturday This volunteer will assist at the check-out by bagging the client’s groceries and packing them in a wagon.
Volunteer Liaisons
9am - noon Tuesday or Thursday or Saturday The core responsibility of this volunteer position is to be the first contact and partner for a new volunteer on their first day at SAFE. We ask that the liaison meet the new volunteer 30 minutes prior to the start of the new volunteer’s shift and in that time: - give the “SAFE 101”, which is a one page of facts about our mission, vision, values and programming - do a quick walk through of all of the volunteer positions available - give an in-depth tutorial of the volunteer position they have chosen - partner the volunteer with a current volunteer in that same volunteer position for that shift - be the point of contact for any question or concerns the volunteer may have We ask that the volunteer liaison: commit to at least one distribution shift at least once every two weeks learn the one page “SAFE 101” well enough to paraphrase our mission, vision, values and programming understand what each volunteer role generally entails
Sorters & Stockers
9am - noon Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday Sort & stock donations. Must be comfortable lifting 20+ pounds
Check-out
9am - noon Tuesday or Thursday or Saturday This volunteer role will help clients check out from the pantry. This volunteer will count the items the client is “purchasing” to make sure they haven’t exceeded their limit, assist in bagging the items.
Car Loaders
9:00am - 12 noon Tuesday or Thursday or Saturday The volunteer will take the carts full of groceries out the front door to the waiting neighbor’s car in the parking lot in a wagon and if needed, help load the food into their car. The volunteer will be responsible for keeping track of wagons and ensuring their return. Because you will be both inside and outside for this shift, please dress accordingly. Please be aware that this is a physical shift that will often require you to lift and load 25+ pound boxes.
Intake Volunteer Opportunities
at SAFE at Hwy 87
Community Connectors
8:00am - 9:00am Tuesday or Thursday or Saturday For this volunteer role, you will sign in the neighbors upon their arrival and introduce them to their Community Worker. There will be water to offer to families and at times, thoughtful questions to ask to facilitate conversation with neighbors.
Community Workers
8:45am - noon Tuesday or Thursday or Saturday Community workers help people in their communities by assessing and addressing issues and creating plans to improve our client’s lives as partners with them. This volunteer position is the most intensive volunteer role at SAFE. You must have the heart to partner with our clients and walk with them to help improve their lives. This volunteer role requires training from staff at the UNC School of Social Work and the leaders at SAFE, at SAFE, to understand the complexities of how we can help and how to assess and offer the partnership. We ask that you volunteer for at least 2 shifts a month on the same day, bi-weekly so you can be there for the same clients and can develop a relationship with them. You will have an assigned backup in case you are sick or on vacation. The training has been tentatively scheduled for the week of March 16, 2025 there will be 2, 2 hour sessions. The day and time are TBD. During their shift the Community Worker will: - Meet their clients when they come into the pantry for food assistance. - They will take the most basic demographic information and enter it into the Link-to-feed system and enter the client’s phone number into our texting system. - Then the Community Worker will ask each client the questions on the intake form and enter their answers into the NC360 database, which will help connect them to the resources they need. - In some instances there will be emergency situations that the clients need the Community Worker to help them work through. ie. If a client doesn’t have electricity you might need to stay on the phone with them and Duke Power’s financial assistance until there is resolution or if domestic violence is reported, you would need to work with that client until they have an immediate resource that can help like the Women’s Resource Center. - We do not want you to offer your personal contact information, all client assistance should be done at SAFE. SAFE will: Assign each Community Worker a Chromebook laptop and SAFE email address. Offer the appropriate training on the three platforms you will be using, Link-to-Feed, Gloo (to enter client’s phone number for texting), and NC360, a resource database. Give you any support you need to partner with your client.
Other Volunteer Opportunities
at SAFE at Hwy 87
Truck Unloaders and Shelf Stockers
11 am until 2pm, once a month, usually every second Monday. We will reach out as soon as the delivery is confirmed by our shipper, which will be 2 weeks before the date of volunteering. This volunteer position will assist in unloading a tractor trailer truck of food and stocking our pantry with the food. It requires lifting up to 40lbs.
Frozen Food Specialists
11 am until 2pm, once a month, usually every second Monday. We will reach out as soon as the delivery is confirmed by our shipper, which will be 2 weeks before the date of volunteering. This volunteer position will meet, along with our staff and volunteers, the delivery truck and unload the frozen food items from the semi-truck into our transit van and, ride along with a staff member to SAFE’s walk-in freezer and unload the cases of frozen food into the freezer.
Group Volunteer Opportunities
SAFE welcomes group volunteers from churches, civic clubs, school/scouting/youth development groups to do food drives, tables at events to promote SAFE, fundraisers for SAFE, etc. If you’d like to organize a group volunteer event, please reach out to Tiffanie Jackson, Executive Director at executivedirector@safealamance.org
Individual Volunteer Opportunities on
Thursdays at Safe at The Bridge
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We're seeking individuals who are looking to serve the local community and help with food distribution every Thursday from 4-6pm at 615 W Harden St., Graham, NC 27253 .
Questions? Email:
