Food Pantry Volunteers

Volunteers are needed to help families get food, clothing and other basic necessities at the Families Forward Bidwell Pantry. Training is provided when a volunteer first arrives.

Volunteers help in the following way each day:

• Food Pantry Guide:
  Guiding families through their grocery “shopping” experience.
• Clothing Pantry:
  Sorting, hanging, and organizing clothing and household donations.
• If we are caught up with helping families get groceries, volunteers will help stock the grocery aisles.

Volunteers needed Monday through Friday (day time and evening shifts) and some Saturdays.

Volunteers should be 5 years of age or older to volunteer. Youth 12 years of age and younger should have an adult on site with them while volunteering.

Questions:Contact Missy Reams at missy or by phone at  or by text at .

About Families Forward Bidwell Pantry: At the Families Forward Bidwell Pantry, we provide basic necessities to families in need. Help families “shop” through our free building for food, personal care items, clothing, and household items. Serving 6,000 - 9,000 individuals per month, our pantry provides hope to families and helps them bridge the gap, so that they can spend their hard earned money on other necessities besides food and clothing.

About volunteering: A volunteer orientation is provided when you first arrive to help, including an overview about poverty in the Des Moines metro. We provide a unique cultural and economically diverse volunteer experience.

About Families Forward: Families Forward (previously Bidwell Riverside Center and Hawthorn Hill) has four main programs:
Bidwell Pantry, Child Development Center, New Directions Shelter (emergency housing), and The Home Connection (long-term housing). For over 100 years, our mission has been to provide compassionate, life-changing assistance to families and their path to self-sufficiency.

Volunteers should be between the ages of 5 and 105.

Bidwell Pantry
1203 Hartford Avenue
Des Moines,IA50315