Volunteer at ALF

At ALF Food Pantry, we are dedicated to serving individuals and families with limited income by providing them with nutritious food options. We are a 100% volunteer organization. We offer long-term volunteer opportunities. Please email us to set up training. contact@alffoodpantry.org

Opportunities to help.

• Morning Team Duties
  Our morning teams orchestrate an incredible process, including stocking shelves, sorting and bagging produce, boxing the groceries and exchanging information with the afternoon teams as well as the next day's morning team. Mornings can be quite busy dealing with deliveries from the SLO Food Bank and grocery stores while making boxes to be distributed in the afternoon. All the incoming food has to be processed and shelved or refrigerated.
  The morning shift runs from about 7:30 to 10:30 but the hours are flexible.

• Afternoon Team Duties
  Each client is greeted by a volunteer. The file reviewer takes the client into an office where they use a laptop to search for the client's record. The volunteer checks that the client's information is correct in our system. They note the number of adults and children in the household along with the client's name on an order form. They take the form to the food distributors to fill. The clients then return outside to wait for their order to be processed. The food distributors fill a large cart with the appropriate amount of food based on family size, adding meat and dairy products to the shelf stable items. The volunteer then takes the cart out to the waiting client.
  The afternoon shift arrives by 12:45 and leaves about 3:15.

• ALF drivers
  Our drivers begin each day with pickups of donated food from local stores and deliver the food to the pantry. Depending on how busy the morning crew is, the drivers will frequently help shelve and refrigerate the items they pick up.

• Saturday volunteers

  The Saturday people receive food from the Templeton farmers' market. SLO Food Pantry gleaners bring the produce to the pantry where ALF volunteers sort through it and store it in the refrigerators. They usually come in after the farmers' markets have closed.

• Pantry staff

  The Pantry Staff reviews our supplies and purchases more when needed.

• Board Members

  In the background, the Board Members are the backbone of the administration of ALF Food Pantry.

Host a canned food drive

Food drives are a great way to provide nutritious food to our ALF food pantry. They also help raise awareness about food insecurity and build a stronger community.

Email us at contact@alffoodpantry.org if you have questions or would like more information.

Our volunteers bring food out to the clients.

Camp Fire donated 300 pounds of food plus $100 from their food drive!

How to Help

Give Money

Your donation helps ALF purchase milk, eggs, meat, produce and other essentials.

Give Food

Help us fill our shelves through food drives or our Amazon wishlist.

Volunteer

Help prepare boxes, pick up food, sort donations and serve our neighbors.

Host a Food Drive

Bring your school, church, business, club or organization together to help ALF.

Donate Food

We accept food donations at ALF Monday through Friday from 8am to 10 am and 1pm to 3pm. Please call (805-461-1504) if you need to make other arrangements. Make sure the food is not out of date. Check the list of foods needed under the Food Drive description.

NO open packages or outdated food please.

Donate through Amazon

• Click here to go to ALF's wish list on Amazon.

• Click on items you wish to send.

• Click on "Check Out".

• Select ALF Food Pantry as the destination.

• Check Out. Shipping is free.

• USPS will deliver your donation directly to the Pantry.

Donate Funds
Financial donations to ALF help provide essential resources to those in need, ensuring that no one goes hungry. All financial donations are tax deductible.

Items we need every day:
Peanut butter - 16 oz
Cereal - small boxes of low sugar cereal
Instant Oatmeal packets
Canned tuna and meat - 5 oz
Tomato or pasta sauce (no glass) - 15 oz
Canned soup, vegetables and fruit - 15 oz
Canned plain beans (e.g. pinto, kidney, etc) - 15 oz
Rice - 1 lb bag
Package of dried beans - 1 lb bag
Macaroni and cheese - 7 oz box
Plain pasta (e.g. spaghetti, noodles, etc) - 1 lb package

Hosting a Food Drive is a great way to help us provide food to our clients.