Corporate and Group Volunteer Opportunities

Join us for one of our five annual Red Bag Food Collection Events, where volunteers collect, sort, and distribute thousands of pounds of food and toiletries in just one morning!

➡️  This activity is available for groups of 12 or fewer volunteers. 

How to participate as a group:

Choose a group leader. This person will handle the sign-up for your group. One leader can sign up a maximum of 6 volunteers. To sign up 7-12 people, you’ll need to identify a co-lead. Confirmation emails will be sent to group leaders (and co-leaders).

Our sign-up opens two weeks before each event at 8:00 a.m. Slots fill quickly, so set a reminder! Slots are first come, first served!

• Select your preferred location. We currently host 10 sorting sites throughout Northern Virginia. Groups of 6 can sign up together; two smaller groups may choose different sites.

Event day check-in. Every adult (18+) must sign in and complete a waiver. You can find our waiver here to share with your team ahead of time.

• Students ages 9-17 are welcome to attend. Please click here for more information about our waivers and unaccompanied minor requirements. 

After the event, we hope you will contact us to share feedback and pictures with us. 

📍 Learn more about our food collection events: www.FoodForNeighbors.org/red-bag-program

📍 Sign up: www.FoodForNeighbors.org/events

Gather your team to collect much-needed items to support local students.

➡️  This activity is suitable for organizations of all sizes.  

Steps to organize a Food Drive:

Choose a Red Bag Event date to support.
We host five Red Bag Events throughout the school year on Saturday mornings. Pick a date that fits your schedule and plan your food drive to wrap up just before that date. Your group will bring all collected donations directly to the Red Bag Event, where they’ll be sorted and distributed to local students that same day. Unfortunately, we can only accept food drive donations at one of our Saturday events.

Submit our Group Volunteer Form.
Once you’ve selected your date, please complete our Group Volunteer Form below. This step is required so we prepare our team to receive and sort your donations efficiently on event day. Don’t forget to tell us when/where you’re dropping off your donation. Two weeks before the drop off date, you can signup online so we know you’re coming.

Use our grocery list to collect the appropriate items.
Download and share our official grocery list with your members to ensure donations match the items most needed by students and school pantries. We encourage groups to set a collection goal (such as a certain number of bags or pounds of food) to make the drive fun and motivating.

Deliver your donations on event day.
On the Red Bag Event morning, bring your collected items to your assigned drop-off location between 9:00–9:30 a.m. Volunteers will be ready to unload your vehicle and sort your donations. 

After the event, we hope you will contact us to share feedback and pictures with us. 

📩 Interested in getting started? Please complete our Group Volunteer Form for more details and next steps. 

Can’t make it to a Red Bag Event or have more than 12 participants? You could host a team-building project at your own space! Together, your group can purchase, pack, and deliver shelf-stable food directly to partnering schools.

➡️  This activity is suitable for organizations with a budget of $2,000 or larger.  

Start planning your project!

• Choose a date (and a backup date), your event’s location, and a team leader.
  • We’ll coordinate with you on the date to make sure school is in session, we have a guest speaker and we have enough bins to hold your donation. Having a few date options is helpful!
• Establish your project budget. Food Packing events can be organized starting at a minimum $2,000 investment.
• Determine the number of people who would like to participate in the project.

What you’ll provide:

• All the food and gallon Ziploc bags. We recommend ordering from Amazon (and ship to your office), or purchase from Costco.
• Tables for sorting and packing food
• Some carts or flatbeds for moving filled bins
• Trash cans and bins for recycling

We’re here to help! We’ll provide:

• Optionally, a guest speaker to come talk about our mission
• Bins for your completed food packs
• Details for the delivery of your food and drop-off coordination
• Guidance on planning and purchasing

After the event, we hope you will contact us to share feedback and pictures with us. 

📩 Interested in getting started? Please complete our Group Volunteer Form below for more details and next steps. 

Looking for a meaningful way to support Food For Neighbors while meeting your organization’s philanthropy goals? Consider becoming a Financial Partner with Food For Neighbors. There are many creative ways that an organization, big or small, can help support local teens.

Be a Red Bag Event Sponsor

• Support one of our biggest community efforts! As a Red Bag Event sponsor, your group will receive reserved volunteer spots, brand visibility on our signage, special recognition in our newsletter and social media, along with other meaningful benefits. Please contact us today for more details. 
• ➡️ This opportunity is suitable for organizations with a budget of $25,000 or larger.

Be a Matching Donor

• Match contributions during one of our major campaigns to double the impact. 
• ➡️ This opportunity is suitable for organizations with a budget of $5,000 or larger.

Sponsor a School

• Provide gift cards for the most vulnerable families at one of our partner schools or sponsor one of our Red Bag Events.
  • Choose your amount to donate. A $750 gift will provide gift cards needed for students at one partner school.
  • Let us direct your gift. 100% of your donation will be used for the purchase of gift cards at participating schools that need them most, helping feed as many students as possible.
  • Make an impact! Your donation goes directly to local teens in need. Thank you for helping us fight hunger and bring hope this spring!
• ➡️ This opportunity is suitable for organizations with a budget of $750 or larger.

Host an Online Fundraiser

• We’ll set you up with a custom donation page, flyer, and QR code—perfect for sharing with your team or community. Set your goal, and track your donations easily. 
• ➡️ This opportunity is suitable for organizations of any size.

📩 Interested in getting started? Please complete our Group Volunteer Form for more details and next steps. 

Red Bags are our signature way of collecting food donations. Your group can help assemble the bags by attaching the tags and grocery lists. We’ll provide all materials to assemble them and package them in boxes for us to distribute to our areas. 

➡️  This activity is suitable for organizations of all sizes. 

Please note: this volunteer opportunity is only available on a very limited basis. 

📩 Interested in getting started? Please complete our Group Volunteer Form for more details and next steps. 

We’re excited to connect and share how your company can make a real impact for local students experiencing food insecurity.

Here’s a link to our Corporate Partnerships webpage. It outlines some of the benefits involved in the different levels of partnership. You will have an opportunity to give at a level that aligns with your goals for impact. We also have a Creative Giving Toolkit that has great ideas for ways to support our mission.