Get Involved

We could not serve hundreds of meals a day without our community’s support. Here are 6 ways to get involved.

1. Financial Support

Your financial donations are critical to keeping our operations up and running. Less than 5% of our funding is grant-based, and we deeply appreciate our regular donors, including some former guests who faithfully mail in $10-25 each month. Financial support is our greatest need.

Our dollars go a long way due to our partnerships. We’re often able to buy three times the amount of food that an individual might buy at a grocery store for the same price. Click on the donate button below to give now.

Gifts of stocks, RMDs, and other financial holdings are gladly accepted. Our federal tax ID is 52-1268749. 

We work with Sam Waddell of Davenport & Company (434-948-1114), who can assist with any transactions, or give us a call at (434) 845-5703.

2. Volunteer

We love our nearly 900 annual volunteers who cook, clean, and serve hundreds of meals each day. With a lean part-time staff, we could not operate without our cooks, servers, cleaners, and maintenance volunteers. Our community so willingly gives of their time and talents that we’re often booked up to 8 weeks out for scheduled shifts!

Here are a few things to know about being a volunteer:

  • Sign up in advance for 3-hour shifts

  • Expect to be standing and active for the entire shift

  • We recommend wearing comfortable athletic shoes

  • We need volunteers with good hearing and the ability to lift at least 5 pounds

  • You must be age 16 or older

3. Food Donations

More than 98% of our food is donated from local colleges, grocery stores, restaurants, and other businesses. Thanks to the generosity of our community partners, we receive about 800 pounds of food per day!

Please drop off food donations from 6:30 am to 12:30 pm any day. We are not able to receive your donation after 12:30, so please come early!

Here are our top 10 needs for donations:

  1. Protein, especially ground beef, chicken, and hams. We’ll even take a whole cow and pay to have it processed.

  2. Large #10 cans of veggies – green beans, carrots, and apples are especially loved

  3. 55-gallon trash bags

  4. Plastic forks and spoons

  5. Cleaning supplies such as dish detergent, bathroom cleaner, wipes, kitchen cleaner, etc.

  6. Rolls of paper towels

  7. Paper napkins

  8. Instant mashed potatoes

  9. Salad dressing (any type)

  10. Salt-free seasonings and herbs, such as Mrs. Dash, oregano, and pepper

4. Group Projects

Does your small group, team, or club want to help? We welcome these projects:

  • Make PB&Js to-go. We love giving out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that guests can use for dinner or snacks.

  • Build a trail mix. Have group members bring various ingredients and create something delicious.

  • Break down bulk cereal into baggies. We can provide this as a quick to-go item for breakfast.

  • Bake hearty, nutritious bread, such as banana or zucchini.

Please drop off donations from 6:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. any day. We are not able to receive your donation after 12:30, so please come early!

5. Bulk Food Donations

If you are in the food business and would like to make bulk donations of 100 pounds or greater, please contact us for more information.

6. Other Ways to Give

We also have an account with Davenport & Company to receive gifts of stock.

We also have an Amazon Wish List. Please note that Amazon protects donor information, so they do not tell us who sent a gift!