Opportunities for Groups

Groups are able to help AFAC with many special projects. We have a lot of ideas below.

Please complete the Group Volunteer Profile form. We will then get in touch with you about a specific project and schedule. You can also email Puwen Lee at puwen.lee@afac.org to discuss project ideas.

Employees from BB&T after an afternoon at AFAC bagging rice and potatoes.

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• Hold a food drive!

• Sponsor a load of produce.

  • Purchase a shipping container full of produce -- somewhere near 10,000 lbs. depending on the crop - from our gleaning partner, MAGNET, for $900. The container is brought to a site (your site or AFAC) to be sorted and packed by your volunteers.
    
    

• Host a game night or quiz night for AFAC. Read more about St. Michael's Episcopal Church's Oktoberfest Quiz Nite for AFAC.
  
  

• Bag rice, oatmeal, chicken and other bulk products into individual-sized portions for clients.

  • This can be done on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon and possibly on a Wednesday evening at AFAC. You can also purchase rice, oats or beans and do the bagging at your location. If you purchase through AFAC, you'll get a discounted price. For $400, you can buy 1,000 pounds of rice. Ten adult volunteers can bag that amount of rice in about an hour.
    
    

• Have a cleaning blast for AFAC.

  • Claim a Saturday afternoon for your group to help AFAC behind-the-scenes.  These once/monthly cleaning events might include cleaning rugs, washing windows, cleaning coolers, vacuuming our vans, washing waiting room chairs, scrubbing and painting walls, shampooing carpets.  A clean AFAC means staff can better serve our clients.
    
    
    

• Put together Emergency Food Kits (EFKs)

  • AFAC provides EFKs to Arlington County to distribute to clients with immediate food needs. Groups can purchase supplies and pack boxes for us at their own location. Here's how.
    
    
    

• Have a food drive for our Back Pack Buddies program.

• Organize a CROP walk team -- each October or run/walk in the 5k Turkey Trot, each Thanksgiving to help fight hunger locally.
  
  

• Go GLEANING (harvest leftover crops at area farms)
  
  

• Plant a garden for AFAC.
  
  

• Sort donated food at special events, such as the Letter Carriers Food Drive or Boy Scouts Food Drive.
  
  

• Help leaflet local neighborhoods to spread the word about AFAC's major food drives in the Spring and Fall.
  
  

Because AFAC has a small building, we schedule group warehouse projects after normal distribution hours.  We can accommodate groups on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons after 1 pm as well as Saturday and Sunday afternoons. 

The largest group size we can accommodate is 30 people on the weekend and 20 during the week.  Occasionally, we schedule small groups (5-8 people) on Wednesday evenings. 

All opportunities are dependent on AFAC's current needs.