Opportunities to put Faith into Action

Program Listing with Volunteer Opportunities

FOCUS Interfaith Food Pantry serves 275+ families each month, providing a six day supply of food and personal items. Volunteers are needed to bag groceries, register pantry guests, restock the storage area, and help guests with food selections. If you are interested in volunteering at the pantry, contact Pantry Manager Lorraine Houk at (Lorraine’s Email).

FOCUS Winter Breakfast is a seasonal soup kitchen that serves breakfast to over 125 guests each morning, providing a hot, nutritious breakfast and take-away lunch. We have about ten volunteers each morning to help cook and serve breakfast, set-up and clean-up the facility, and generally provide a hospitable and safe space for breakfast guests. If you are interested in volunteering for FOCUS Winter Breakfast, please contact the FOCUS Winter Breakfast Volunteer Coordinator at (VISTA Email).

Extra Helpings Program is a food buying cooperative that allows people to stretch their food budget. We need a few volunteers once each month to help unload boxes of food from the delivery truck and put together the food packages. To help with Extra Helpings, contact Pantry Manager Lorraine Houk at (Lorraine’s Email).

Computers for Kids is a six week intensive course that teaches low-income Albany youth about hardware and software, as well as useful general life skills, like writing a résumé. We would like to have some volunteers come in to teach the students about general life skills, and to provide positive role models for the students. Congregations are needed to provide lunch daily. To volunteer for Computers for Kids, contact Community Minister Reverend Debra Jameson at (Rev. Deb’s Email).

FOCUS on Schools is our annual school supply drive in which we collect school supplies and distribute them to children in our pantry neighborhoods, as well as to city schools. Volunteers are needed to coordinate faith community collections June-August. We will also need volunteers August 31st through September 1st to pack supplies, and September 2nd through 4th to distribute supplies to pantry guests. Volunteers must be signed up ahead of time, and can sign up by email (kaitlync@focuschurches.net) or by phone (518) 443-0460.

Community Harvest Garden is a joint project between FOCUS and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church to use church space to grow and provide fresh, local produce for guests of FOCUS Interfaith Food Pantry. Volunteers will be needed this summer to plant, weed, mulch, water and harvest the garden. We are also looking for volunteers to help conduct demonstrations on gardening, healthy cooking, and nutrition. For more information about helping in the garden, please email Rev. Debra Jameson at (Rev. Deb’s Email).

Other Essential Volunteer Roles

Drivers are needed for food pick-ups at the Regional Food Bank, and for food deliveries to senior housing units. Those interested in becoming a driver should contact Pantry Manager Lorraine Houk at (Lorraine’s Email).

Advocacy We have opportunities to meet with city, county, state and federal lawmakers to work on implementing just public policies. We need participants for our local events, people to help lobby through the Faith and Hunger Network, and people to support our stances on state and federal issues with Bread for the World and Ecumenical Advocacy Days. To find out more about Advocacy, contact Community Minister Reverend Debra Jameson at (Rev. Deb’s Email).