Volunteer Spotlight – Teen Bagging Night
AFAC offers opportunities for teens aged 14+ to volunteer without a parent in our warehouse. However, it is often hard for teens to find open spots on our online calendar during the school year because their schedule doesn’t always line up with ours. To address this issue and to encourage teens to continue volunteering, AFAC now offers Teen Bagging Night on the 2nd Monday of every month during the school year from 7-8PM. Teen Bagging Nights will run from September – May. During the summer months, teens are encouraged to participate in our Summer Teen Program, and teens can always sign up for open spots that work with their schedule (as long as they are not marked “adult only”).
What does Teen Bagging Night entail?
During our Teen Bagging Nights, teens will bag produce, bag dried goods, or sort through non-perishable food donations. These activities help us prepare for our upcoming food distributions in two ways. First, we purchase food in bulk so we rely on volunteers to break down the large bags of food into family-sized portions. Second, all donated food must be sorted and checked for quality before it can be distributed to our families. Teen Bagging Nights help us stay ahead of these tasks so we are ready for our daily distribution.
Looking for more volunteer opportunities for teens?
Remember to check the online calendar for options and look a month or so in advance. Keep an eye out for: Chicken Bagging on Wednesday evenings, Produce Bagging on Saturday afternoons, distribution spots marked “14+” and occasional Teen Bagging afternoons on days when APS or FCPS doesn’t have school.
Organizing a food drive is a great way to help on your own time. You can organize one at school, neighborhood, house of worship, or with a team/extra curricular group. You can go to our website to register your drive, find customizable templates, our most wanted items, and tips to make it a success. We can provide you with boxes as well. We will give students one minute of credit for each pound donated (i.e. 300 pounds would equal 5 hours of service — that’s a fairly full car!).