JFS Seeks Volunteers Jan. 26 to Sort A Simple Gesture Donations

Jewish Family Services is calling on volunteers to help process a large delivery of A Simple Gesture donations on Jan. 26, asking for hands to weigh, sort, check expiration dates and stock the David D. Frazier Food Pantry. The event listing on JFS’s volunteer and events pages estimates between 1,500 and 3,000 pounds of food will arrive, creating a logistics surge that requires outside help.

Volunteers will perform inventory tasks that are critical to food-shelf operations: weighing and sorting donations into categories, verifying expiration dates to ensure safety and compliance, and stocking pantry shelves for client distribution. Those activities reduce the time JFS staff must devote to intake and allow the pantry to get food onto distribution schedules more quickly, which matters for workers who manage daily client needs and for volunteers who want to maximize their impact during a single shift.

For employees and workplace teams, the Jan. 26 shift represents a straightforward corporate social responsibility opportunity. Employers can organize volunteers as a single group to complete intake work efficiently, or spread volunteers across multiple shifts to avoid disrupting business hours. Volunteer work like this also exposes staff to inventory management and quality control tasks that mirror workplace processes such as supply-chain handling, recordkeeping and safety checks.

Logistically, JFS’s event page provides an RSVP link and contact information for volunteer coordination; the listing is available at jfsgreensboro.org/volunteer. Companies and individuals planning to participate should RSVP so organizers can plan table space, scales and sorting lanes, and so pantry staff can arrange for proper storage and distribution after intake.

Processing thousands of pounds of donated food is labor intensive and time sensitive. Checking expiration dates preserves food safety and protects the pantry from distributing unusable items, a duty that rests heavily on volunteers when donation volumes spike. For pantry workers, having a coordinated volunteer team means fewer overtime hours and faster turnaround for clients waiting on assistance.

This call for volunteers highlights how civic partnerships and workplace volunteer programs can ease operational pressure on nonprofit staff while providing employees with meaningful, hands-on community service. Employees and managers interested in pitching in should visit the JFS volunteer page to RSVP and get contact details for volunteer coordination; timely sign-ups will help ensure the pantry can receive and distribute the incoming donations efficiently.