The Capital Area Food Bank’s Produce for Kids Volunteer Leaders ensure that fresh fruits and vegetables get to children in the Washington metro area who are at risk of hunger, because children with unmet nutrition needs are more vulnerable to sickness and infections, as well as developmental and educational problems. Volunteer leaders are a crucial part of volunteerism at the Capital Area Food Bank.
Volunteers regularly pack food for our Weekend Bag Program, which has been sending bags of shelf-stable groceries home with kids each weekend for the past 11 years. Through the Weekend Bag Program, the food bank feeds over 2,200 children each weekend, many of whom rely on school breakfasts and lunch for nutrition during the week. We always send the most nutritious canned fruits and vegetables available, including fruit canned in juice instead of syrup and vegetables with no added salt.
We’ve also been working to add a Fresh Produce Bag to our Weekend Bag Program so that kids and their families can have increased access to fruits and vegetables while school’s out. This Fresh Produce Weekend Bag will also include recipe cards from the CAFB’s Healthy Recipe Database. These recipes will help kids and families turn this produce into delicious, healthy and affordable meals.
Together with the Volunteer Leader program, we put out a call to the community. We needed volunteer leaders to supervise groups of volunteers so that we are able to stretch our staff time, improve the volunteer experience and connect community members to our mission – all great things!
Thank you to all of our volunteers – we couldn’t do it without you!
Come join us!