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Support a neighbor in need by ordering your Thanksgiving pie through Slice of Life!

Each pie purchased provides one full day of medically tailored meals to a neighbor living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, diabetes, and other serious illnesses.

Don't wait - pie sales end November 19th!

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Volunteer with us

Food & Friends depends on thousands of volunteers every year to carry out our mission of delivering nutritious meals to those battling serious illnesses. Join us!

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30 million meals delivered with your help

From our kitchen to our clients’ tables, fresh, delicious, medically tailored meals are prepared, packaged and home-delivered Monday through Saturday, year-round - with help from our 8,500 caring volunteers.

Volunteering as an Individual

At Food & Friends we have many different volunteer opportunities that can fit your busy schedule and interests. All individual volunteers must first attend an orientation and undergo a criminal background check to get started. We ask for at least a 6 month or 20 hour commitment from all individual volunteers.

Meal & Grocery Deliveries

We rely on the assistance of delivery volunteers who use their own vehicles to bring nourishment to our clients across the region. A typical delivery route is six to ten households and can take between one to three hours.

Meals can be picked up at Food & Friends or from one of our convenient Neighborhood Distribution Partners. You choose how often you deliver and no matter how busy you are, we can find a route that is perfect for you!

Food Prep & Packaging

In order to prepare thousands of meals each day, we spend a lot of time prepping ingredients and packing meals. Volunteers join us for all stages of our food preparation, from chopping vegetables to packing groceries. Shifts are generally two to three hours.

Administrative Support

It requires many helping hands to make sure our day-to-day operations run smoothly. If you enjoy filing, data entry, stuffing envelopes, making phone calls or helping with administrative projects, we are the place for you!

We also have seasonal internship and skills-based volunteer opportunities for you to bring your skills to Food & Friends.

Youth Opportunities

We welcome youth volunteers to Food & Friends and there are many ways for young people to gain service hours for school or to get the whole family involved.

Volunteers of all ages can join their adult family members delivering meals to our clients’ homes, making this an ideal volunteer opportunity for parents with young children. Volunteers must be at least 14 to work in our kitchen preparing and packaging meals.

Any MCPS student who wishes to earn SSL hours for service with Food & Friends will need to submit an Individual SSL Request form (MCPS Form 560-50 – https://bit.ly/SSLPreApproval) to their school’s SSL coordinator for review and approval prior to serving with your organization in order to earn SSL hours.

**For safety and liability reasons, MCPS students CANNOT earn SSL hours for time spent in vehicles delivering items to community members. MCPS will not approve Meal & Grocery Delivery hours.**

"I have gotten more out of it than I ever put into it. Doing volunteer service at Food & Friends has been a blessing in my life. I am not quitting."
Bill Wooge, Core Volunteer
Someone told me last week that Food & Friends delivered 1.25 million meals last year. I did that calculation in my head, and that comes out to 25,000 meals per week. That is phenomenal, military-level logistics. What I have seen as a volunteer here blows me away. Everything in the kitchen is smooth, and everything operates efficiently.  See below for Irene's full story!
Irene Glowinski, Volunteer
What I do is less important than what staff and volunteers do to prepare the meals and put them together for us to deliver. Whenever a client thanks me, I tell them it is a pleasure, and it is an honor. I sincerely mean that. They are why I keep coming back to volunteer at Food & Friends and am committed to making a monthly donation to support this essential work. It is about showing our neighbors gratitude, love, and compassion. We are neighbors helping neighbors. See below for Charles' full story!
Charles Walton, Volunteer and Member of the Bread & Butter Club
“I love the origin story. You can get very isolated if you’re ill. But with all the little touches, like Thanksgiving and birthday cakes, you’re treated as a whole person, not just as your illness. But at the same time, [Food & friends is] very aware of the illness and has all these specialized meals. I think it’s a really expansive way of feeding people, instead of being reductionist.” See below for Shyama's full story!
Shyama Haniffa, Volunteer
During the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, I was the sole caregiver for a family member. I remember, with so much gratitude, the volunteers who brought food to us in this time of hardship and fear. Now, I pay it forward as a Food & Friends volunteer delivery driver and monthly donor. See below for Charles Walton's full story!
Charles Walton, Volunteer & Donor
Having delivered to 1,198 client homes in 2018 alone, and driven over 2,200 miles, the quality and the quantity of her dedication know no bounds. See below for Gwena's full story!
Gwena Mason, Volunteer
“Food & Friends embodies the qualities of a family… This place will change your life” See below for Jeri's full story !
Jeri Wasco, Volunteer
"It reinforced in my mind the critical value of what we all do together at Food & Friends day after day, week after week, year after year." See below for Johnny's full story!
Johnny Pitchford, Volunteer and Donor
“When I was younger, my parents always taught me ‘be kind and help others,’ and that little voice just resonated in my brain over the years. If I can do it, you can do it. All it takes is just one. One signs up, then someone else signs up, and then it blossoms into a major effort.” See below for Joan's full story!
Joan, Volunteer and Donor
Volunteers have been at the core of Food & Friends for our nearly 30-year history. The thousands of volunteers who have come through our doors in that time came largely out of a desire to give back to their community and help others in need. See below for St. Johns Community Services' full story!
St. Johns Community Services, Volunteer Group
“You feel a real sense of accomplishment and know you are truly making a difference.” See below for Jean's full story!
Jean Lee, Volunteer
"Volunteering makes me feel connected to the community and connected to my brother who is no longer with us." See below for Fleur and Carol's full story!
Fleur and Carol Bresler, Volunteers and Donors

Volunteering as a Group

We rely on volunteer groups to help prepare and package our meals in the kitchen and deliver meals to our clients’ doors. We would love to host your school, corporate, social, or faith-based group at Food & Friends for a great day of team building while serving our neighbors. Food & Friends will provide a full orientation upon arrival to ensure a successful day for your group.

Meal & Grocery Delivery

Whether it is a one-time, weekly or monthly commitment, this activity has an immediate impact on both the delivery volunteer and the client who receives the meals. In addition to providing nourishment, your smile and a warm greeting will go a long way for our clients, many of whom are homebound and socially isolated.

Meal & Grocery Delivery requires the use of your own vehicles. Drivers need to be over the age of 18, with a valid driver’s license. We have no age requirement for passengers. Most organizations team up volunteers and carpool so that each driver has a navigator. A typical route is six to ten households and can take between one to three hours.

Food Prep & Packaging

Volunteers work together to help get meals out the door, making it a terrific team-building activity. Volunteer shifts are generally 9:00am to 12:00pm, 1:00pm to 4:00pm, and 6:00pm to 8:00pm. We typically schedule groups from 4-26 people and can occasionally accommodate larger groups for our 9am-12pm weekday shifts with advanced coordination. Organizations are also welcome to use our classroom space upon request to serve breakfast or lunch to their volunteers. Volunteers must be age 14 or older, and all youth groups must be accompanied by an adult chaperone (one for every 10 students).

Service Learning

Food & Friends provides students with the opportunity to relate classroom learning to real-world experiences while instilling the value of community service. Through this experience, students will gain valuable knowledge and see, first-hand, how their service impacts the lives of individuals facing HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses.

Special Events

You can make a difference by getting involved with one of our fundraising events–or hosting your own fundraising event. Volunteers play an important role in making our events a success. If you would like to volunteer, please contact events@foodandfriends.org.
“To this day, I do not know what I would have done without Food & Friends.”
Carl Witte, Client
"They came through because I love fruit. And once you go to the store these days, fruit is expensive. So, I liked that."
Kevin Pinkett, Client
“Food & Friends was, and still is, as important to me as the doctors. That tells you how big a difference they made. They never missed a date. You were still connected with people when you couldn't be, so it was a total physical and emotional support.”
Mary Freesland, Client
“I like the selection of food, it is catered to my medical needs. I do not have to worry about anything. My diabetes is coming down, and my A1C came down several points. I don't have to worry about what I am going to eat for dinner, and I don't have to worry about what my children eat for dinner."
Angela Beatty, Client
“I get on some of the webinars and it's a wealth of information. I get recipes on how to do certain things, how to use certain foods like the turkey burgers and chicken fillets. I'm just really astounded that the program does as much as it does.”
Michael Fauntleroy, Client
Food & Friends' healthy meals were a reminder of her childhood in St. Thomas, "The oregano, and thyme, and the fennel. It is like just reconnecting with flavors I had not eaten for many years."
Margaret Patterson, Client
“My dad was so giving. If he would have had the opportunity to come here, he would say, ‘continue to help those who can't help themselves, like I was.’”
Bobby Francis, Client
“You can tell when something is packaged with love, it looks professional, it is always appetizing. My mom can choose what she wants to eat. Her A1C levels have improved, and that has a lot to do with nutrition. Food & Friends has really helped her balance out her health, and it has helped me out a lot as a caregiver. I am so thankful we found it,”
Richelle Hewins, Caregiver and Angela Hewins
"I have good days and bad days. but thanks to Food & Friends, I know I am not alone. They are so dependable and friendly. Food & Friends ensures I have a nutritious balanced meal. I initially lost 40 pounds, but with the help of Food & Friends, I have gained back 20 pounds already."
Nathaniel Reed, Client
"I have gotten more out of it than I ever put into it. Doing volunteer service at Food & Friends has been a blessing in my life. I am not quitting."
Bill Wooge, Core Volunteer
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Woe has been afraid to go to the grocery store. Even though she is triple vaccinated, with congestive heart failure, COVID-19 could be fatal. Having deliveries from Food & Friends means she is safer in the comfort of her home and neighborhood. She also is experiencing mobility issues but still walks to her mailbox every day, and enjoys the weather on her patio. Thanks to our generous donors, we are making it a little easier for Woe and helping her have more time to spend with her loving grandkids.  See below for Wealthea's full story!
Wealthea Lynch, Client
“It was like we were handed the missing piece of the puzzle. Your volunteers are so caring and nonjudgmental. The food is wonderful. And though I still feel like I’m on a roller coaster with my health, your meals have helped me get stronger. I want you to tell your supporters that everything they do adds up. Food & Friends is an absolute godsend.” See below for Christine's full story!
Christine, Client
Having delivered to 1,198 client homes in 2018 alone, and driven over 2,200 miles, the quality and the quantity of her dedication know no bounds. See below for Gwena's full story!
Gwena Mason, Volunteer
“I appreciate each and every one of you. I know what it’s like to stand on your feet all day and prepare things for the community. Maryland, D.C., Virginia, all the communities you’re trying to support. It’s not an easy job. I understand that. I love all of you.” See below for Lyniss' full story!
Lyniss Guildford, Client
“Food & Friends is such a huge blessing in my life! The meals are delicious, healthy and properly portioned so that I not only feel full, I feel good knowing that I am eating fresh fruits and vegetables and not fast, or processed foods. Food & Friends allows me peace of mind.” See below for Vickie's full story!
Vickie, Client
Andrew is just one of many individuals who benefits from Food & Friends and the generosity of our community of volunteers and supporters. Watch Andrew's full story below!
Andrew, Client
"There’s all those hands ensuring that we have humans that care about us. And they don’t have to know we who we, and we don’t care if they know who we are. We’re just so grateful and proud." See below for Susan's full story!
Susan, Caregiver
“When I was younger, my parents always taught me ‘be kind and help others,’ and that little voice just resonated in my brain over the years. If I can do it, you can do it. All it takes is just one. One signs up, then someone else signs up, and then it blossoms into a major effort.” See below for Joan's full story!
Joan, Volunteer and Donor
“When you have cancer, you feel bad enough as it is - Your self-esteem is low. You are living with uncertainty about the future. A good meal is not only a boost to your confidence but a comfort like nothing else.” See below for Connie's full story!
Connie Folk, Client
"Volunteering makes me feel connected to the community and connected to my brother who is no longer with us." See below for Fleur and Carol's full story!
Fleur and Carol Bresler, Volunteers and Donors