Frequently Asked Questions

We understand that traffic, weather, and other circumstances may cause volunteers to be late, but we ask that volunteers plan ahead so they can be on time and ensure maximum productivity and satisfaction during volunteer activities.

Please arrive a few minutes prior to the shift start time to allow time for parking and check-in.

To prevent disruption of volunteer activities that have already begun

• Volunteers who arrive after the project has started may be asked to wait until additional volunteers arrive.
• Group members who arrive after the start of the project may not be placed with the rest of their group.
• Volunteers who are more than 30 minutes late may not be able to join a warehouse project that has already started. Volunteers who arrive 30 minutes or more after the start of the shift may be given an administrative task or can reschedule for another date/time.

If you know that you’re going to be late for your volunteer shift, please contact the Volunteer Services Department in Egg Harbor Township.

You can sign up to volunteer with CFBNJ in Egg Harbor Township on our website. You will need to create an account first in our volunteer portal.

If you are having trouble creating an account or signing up online, you can always refer to the videos below or contact the Volunteer Services Department in Egg Harbor Township and we will assist you.

Depending on what you sign up for, volunteers assist with a variety of tasks. Read on below for more specific information.

• Community Assistance Pantry: Pantry assistants support a variety of tasks, which will be assigned by the Pantry Manager based on the needs of the day. Potential pantry assistant tasks include stocking or restocking shelves, sorting produce, loading the refrigerator and freezer, loading carts, assisting neighbors, collecting carts from the parking lot, and other roles as needed.
• Mobile Pantry: Mobile pantry assistants will support a variety of tasks and will be assigned a specific pantry role by CFBNJ staff. The roles can include but are not limited to removing supplies and food items from mobile truck, stocking/restocking, sorting produce, assisting shoppers, etc.
• Warehouse/Repack: Warehouse volunteers will sort food or assemble food boxes to be distributed to our network partners, through home delivery, and/or through our mobile pantries or on-site Community Assistance Pantry. Volunteers will be assigned to specific activities upon arrival.

Volunteer shifts are available during the following times and must be scheduled in advance:

Community Assistance Pantry:

• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday 9 AM – 11 AM
• Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday 11:30 AM – 3:30 PM
• Saturday 8 AM – 11:00 AM and 11 AM – 1:00 PM

Please check our  volunteer signup page to confirm availability.

Mobile Pantry:

• Most mobile pantry shifts are 8:30 AM – 11:30 AM and vary by day.

Please check our  volunteer signup page to confirm availability.

Warehouse/Repack:

• We schedule community and corporate groups on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays 9 AM – 11 AM and 12 PM – 2 PM.

Please complete our Group Interest Form to request a warehouse shift for your group.

Dress casually and comfortably. Layers are suggested, especially in colder months. An orange safety vest must be worn at all times while in the pantry / warehouse.

The following items are NOT permitted in the pantry / warehouse:

• Open-toed shoes, sandals, flip-flops or heels. Shoes must be flat and closed.
• Clothing with controversial messages.
• Hats, hoods, or sunglasses.
• Overly tight, revealing, or suggestive clothing (Tank-tops, short shorts/skirts).
• Extremely loose, ripped, or dangling clothing or jewelry.
• Leave electronics, purses, bags, backpacks, jewelry, and other valuables at home or locked in your car. CFBNJ is not responsible for missing personal belongings. We respect the right to inspect all bags that are brought into the building.

• Conduct yourself with courtesy and respect toward other volunteers, neighbors, staff, and CFBNJ property.
• Sign in and out each time you arrive or leave the premises.
• Remain in your assigned work area.
• No gum chewing, eating, or drinking in the pantry / warehouse areas.
• Smoking is only permitted outside the building in designated areas.
• Do not remove any products from the premises without authorization.
• Only CFBNJ staff is permitted to operate warehouse equipment.
• Clean-up is an essential part of each shift, including packing up, sweeping, mopping, wiping tables, and disposing of trash/recycling.
• Volunteers may not engage in the solicitation of the staff or other volunteers or distribute literature for any purpose in work areas or while volunteering.
• In an emergency, locate the illuminated, red “EXIT” signs above doorways to exit the building.

Driving Directions:

Our address is 6735 Black Horse Pike, Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234. You can use this map to get driving directions to CFBNJ in Egg Harbor Township.

*Please note that if you signed up to volunteer at one of our mobile pantries, you will drive directly to that location. You do not need to come to our building first in Egg Harbor Township. The exact location for each is listed in the volunteer shift.

Public Transit:

Please go to NJTransit.com to find out the best way to get to CFBNJ from your location.

Parking is available directly on the premises and is only accessible from the Black Horse Pike. Volunteers are asked to park in the block of spaces to your right immediately upon entering the parking lot, as available. Due to limited parking spaces, groups are encouraged to car-pool.

• All groups must be registered and scheduled in advance of their shift. You will receive a confirmation of your scheduled event from Volunteer Services staff.
• Group contact/leader should contact the office if any of the details in your confirmation are not correct. Please do this at least one week prior to the scheduled date.
• Group leaders should send the signup link for their scheduled shift to all volunteers that will be participating so that they can individually sign up in advance, complete the necessary waivers, and provide emergency contact information.
• Group leaders should distribute the Volunteer guidelines from your email to everyone in the group.
• Volunteer groups with teens aged 12 through 16 must be accompanied by one adult for every 10 teens. Adults must stay with their groups in their assigned work areas. The CFBNJ staff cannot act as chaperones or supervisors.

If you are interested in bringing a group to CFBNJ in Egg Harbor Township, please complete our Group Interest Form to request a warehouse shift for your group.

Yes! The minimum age to volunteer with CFBNJ is 12. Youth aged 12-15 must volunteer with a parent, guardian, or chaperone.

Teens aged 16-17 may volunteer without adult supervision.

Cancellations: Volunteers can easily cancel a shift if necessary from your confirmation or reminder emails where it says, “Need to Cancel?”

Volunteers can also cancel from within their Volunteer Hub account. Sign into your VolunteerHub account using your username and password. Click on “My Schedule,” then click on the shift you are already registered for that you would like to cancel. Next, click on “Cancel Registration” and follow the prompts.

Please note, each shift needs to be cancelled individually. Please make sure you do so any time you will not be able to attend something you have previously signed up for.

Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate walk-in volunteers or additional volunteers that have not registered in advance.

Please check our volunteer signup page to confirm availability.

You can also contact the Volunteer Services Department in Egg Harbor Township as soon as possible to check on additional availability. We are happy to accommodate, if possible.

We will make every attempt to accommodate a disabled volunteer or small group of disabled volunteers. Please contact the Volunteer Services Department in Egg Harbor Township to discuss individual needs.

We have many other offsite volunteer opportunities! They include:

• Local Farmers’ Markets
• Special Events/Fundraisers (ex: Captain’s Table, Women Fighting Hunger Luncheon)
• Community Events & Festivals (ex: Somer’s Paddy Crawl, Downbeach Seafood Festival)
• Holiday Events (ex: Our annual Turkey Drive in November)
• Volunteering with Grow-A-Row
• Women Fighting Hunger Events

Please contact the Volunteer Services Department in Egg Harbor Township for more information.

We are happy to reserve a room if it is available and capacity allows. Please contact the Volunteer Services Department in Egg Harbor Township to check availability and for more details. Please do this well in advance, as both the volunteer schedule and our meeting room schedules fill up very quickly.

Yes! Volunteers can complete Community Service Hours at CFBNJ.

• If you need to perform community service hours for school, a college course, club, or honor society you may sign up to volunteer as usual and indicate that you need to complete hours toward the bottom of your volunteer registration in response to the question:
  • Are you a student volunteering to fulfill a certain amount of community service hours? If so, include:
  • Name of the school
  • Total number of hours needed
• If you need to perform court-ordered community service hours, please select the following option at the beginning of your volunteer application. “I need court-ordered community service hours.” On the next page, you will be asked to upload documentation that details the offense for which you were ordered to perform community service hours as well as the total number of hours you need to complete.A member of the Volunteer Services department will review your registration once it is submitted and notify you if you have been approved to complete community service hours at CFBNJ. Please note, you will not be able to sign up for any volunteer events until your registration is reviewed.

A staff member on location can sign off for your volunteer hours or write a letter confirming your volunteer hours. Please let us know during your volunteer shift or by sending a request for a letter when it is needed. Please contact the Volunteer Services Department in Egg Harbor Township to do so.

*Please note, if you are completing court-ordered community service hours, the Volunteer Services Department staff will confirm your hours directly with the Probation Office or Police Department overseeing your service.

We understand that traffic, weather, and other circumstances may cause volunteers to be late, but we ask that volunteers plan ahead so they can be on time and ensure maximum productivity and satisfaction during volunteer activities.

Please arrive a few minutes prior to the shift start time to allow time for parking and orientation.

If you know that you’re going to be late for your volunteer shift, please  contact Jill Goordman at the Unity Pantry.

You can sign up to volunteer with CFBNJ at the Garfield Unity Pantry on our website. You will need to create an account first in our volunteer portal.

If you are having trouble creating an account or signing up online, you can always refer to the videos below for assistance.

The Garfield Unity Pantry has several volunteer positions available. Each position comes with a full description of what you will be doing, so please be sure to read the sign up page carefully to be sure you are able to complete the tasks of the job you sign up for each time.

The volunteer positions you may see listed for the Garfield Unity Pantry are:

• Stocker – This is a general shopping day volunteer and includes lifting of 20-30lbs consistently.
• Check out – This is a specific role that has high shopper interaction and includes lifting of 15-20lbs consistently.
• Protein Manager – This is a specific role that has high shopper interaction with little to no lifting.
• Delivery Unloading – This is a non shopping day volunteer that is a heavy lifting job, unloading pallets of food.
• Egg Cutter – This is a specific role with little to no heavy lifting.

Volunteer shifts are available during the following times and must be scheduled in advance:

Monday, Tuesday, and Friday 9 AM – 3PM

Wednesdays 10AM – 1PM

Please check our volunteer signup page to confirm availability.

Dress casually and comfortably. Layers are suggested, especially in colder months.

The following items are NOT permitted in the pantry / warehouse:

• Open-toed shoes, sandals, flip-flops or heels. Shoes must be flat and closed.
• Clothing with controversial messages.
• Hats, hoods, or sunglasses.
• Overly tight, revealing, or suggestive clothing (Tank-tops, short shorts/skirts).
• Extremely loose, ripped, or dangling clothing or jewelry.
• Leave electronics, purses, bags, backpacks, jewelry, and other valuables at home or locked in your car. CFBNJ is not responsible for missing personal belongings. We respect the right to inspect all bags that are brought into the building.

• Conduct yourself with courtesy and respect toward other volunteers, neighbors, staff, and CFBNJ property.
• Remain in your assigned work area.
• Smoking is only permitted outside the building in designated areas.
• Do not remove any products from the premises without authorization.
• Only CFBNJ staff is permitted to operate warehouse equipment.
• Clean-up is an essential part of each shift, including packing up, sweeping, mopping, wiping tables, and disposing of trash/recycling.
• Volunteers may not engage in the solicitation of the staff or other volunteers or distribute literature for any purpose in work areas or while volunteering.
• In an emergency, locate the illuminated, red “EXIT” signs above doorways to exit the building.

The Garfield Unity Pantry is allotted only 10 parking spots at the Unity site. To ensure our shoppers can safely load their groceries, parking on the premises is reserved for pantry shoppers only on PANTRY DAYS. Delivery day volunteers can park on site in the main parking Unity parking lot.

Pantry Day Volunteers can find parking on:

• Midland Avenue (street cleaning is Wednesdays)
• New Schley Street (directly behind the pantry — look for Metro Bagels on the corner)
• Champion Park parking lot off Outwater Lane (you can walk through the parking lots to reach the pantry)

Thank you for understanding and helping us keep the area safe and accessible!

Kids are welcome to volunteer at the Garfield Unity Pantry on Delivery Days only. The minimum age to volunteer with CFBNJ is 12. Youth aged 12-15 must volunteer with a parent, guardian, or chaperone.

Teens aged 16-17 may volunteer without adult supervision.

Cancellations: Volunteers can easily cancel a shift if necessary from your confirmation or reminder emails where it says, “Need to Cancel?”

Volunteers can also cancel from within their Volunteer Hub account. Sign into your VolunteerHub account using your username and password. Click on “My Schedule,” then click on the shift you are already registered for that you would like to cancel. Next, click on “Cancel Registration” and follow the prompts.

Please note, each shift needs to be cancelled individually. Please make sure you do so any time you will not be able to attend something you have previously signed up for.

Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate walk-in volunteers or additional volunteers that have not registered in advance.

Please check our volunteer signup page to confirm availability.

You can also contact Jill Goordman at the Garfield Unity Pantry as soon as possible to check on additional availability. We are happy to accommodate, if possible.

We will make every attempt to accommodate a disabled volunteer or small group of disabled volunteers. Please contact Jill Goordman at the Unity Pantry to discuss individual needs.

Yes!

A staff member on location can sign off for your volunteer hours or write a letter confirming your volunteer hours. Please let us know during your volunteer shift or by sending a request for a letter when it is needed. Please contact Jill Goordman at the Unity Pantry to do so.