Northwest Arkansas Food Bank's Volunteer FAQs

In order to volunteer at the Northwest Arkansas Food Bank, you will need to register as a volunteer and be approved by the Volunteer Coordinator. Once you are approved, you will sign up for the dates you are interested in volunteering. The Northwest Arkansas Food Bank does not accept walk-in volunteers, please sign up prior to your arrival. If you are a Court-Ordered Volunteer, please refer to the Court-Ordered Volunteer section on our website.

We have a few options for volunteering, our most common volunteer opportunity is our Warehouse Session. This includes boxing of food, cleaning the warehouse, pulling food from racks, sorting food drive items, and other activities. The Mobile Pantry is another volunteer opportunity that takes place across Northwest Arkansas. At the Mobile Pantry, you will distribute food directly to the attendees.

Yes. Volunteers must be 13 years or older in order to volunteer in the warehouse and must be accompanied by an adult and have a signed Youth Consent Form from their parent or guardian. Volunteers 16 and older are allowed to volunteer without adult accompaniment, but must also have a signed Youth Consent Form from their parent or guardian.

No. You must be signed up to participate in volunteer activities in order to plan accordingly for group size and abilities.

You are welcome to bring snacks, however they are not allowed to be consumed in the warehouse. Please ask the Volunteer Coordinator upon your arrival for the locations in which it is okay to eat. 

Yes! We would love you to bring an additional donation. Please let the Volunteer Coordinator know of your donation upon your arrival.

No, we are a Food Distribution Center which distributes food to our community partners who then distribute food directly to those in need.