Volunteer Impact at the Puyallup Food Bank
By Shawn Manley
CEO, Puyallup Food Bank
“This foodbank saved my life.” You might expect to hear this from a client, but this oft-repeated claim comes from a volunteer who joined us in 2023. Glenn has one of the most challenging roles. He works at the reception desk, scheduling appointments for clients, making reminder calls, and occasionally navigating tough conversations about how often we can serve a client, or coming up with solutions when a client misses multiple appointments.
Hey its Glenn!
When Glenn’s at the front desk, even Mondays feel like Fridays.
The reception desk is demanding because many of our clients are in crisis. When an 80-year-old widow visits the food bank for the first time because her Social Security no longer meets her needs, she may feel frustrated, angry, or embarrassed. These moments call for a gentle, empathetic response, and Glenn delivers. No matter the difficulty, he remains kind, affable, and welcoming, ensuring everyone feels valued.
Glenn served over 880 hours in 2024. A retiree, he arrives 15 minutes early for his shift, eager to share his zest for life and make everyone feel they belong and are cared for. He is one of the many generous people you’ll meet if you volunteer with us.
Volunteer Roles
Our food bank thrives because of the hundreds of volunteers who serve each week. Ranging in age from 10 to 92, they passionately support their neighbors in need. Volunteer roles include:
Food Collection and Processing
Drivers – Many use their personal vehicles, they pick up donations each morning from Safeway, Fred Meyer, Amazon Go, Costco, and more.
Truck Drivers – Over a dozen drivers operate our small fleet, collecting from wholesalers and distribution centers like McClain, Coastal, US Foods, Sysco, and Safeway Distribution.
Processors – These teams sort produce at the processing table, preparing it for clients while diverting “hog pallets” (bulk loads of food unfit for humans) to local pig farmers, giving food one last use before the landfill.
Client and Partner Services
Receptionists – About half a dozen volunteers like Glenn staff the phones six days a week, handling walk-in requests and responding to online inquiries or appreciation.
Partner Assistance – Supporting over 60 partner organizations, these volunteers help shop, palletize, and load food for distribution in local communities.
Client Prep – Volunteers sort and stock reach-in coolers and freezers, bag shelf-stable groceries, and prepare bakery and produce tables for daily service.
Client Service – Four days a week, our check-in specialists, packers, runners, and quick-pick (bonus item) volunteers efficiently deliver nutritious food to clients.
Care Team – This specially trained group of a dozen volunteers works in shifts of 2-3 during client service, addressing urgent needs, connecting people to jobs, service providers, free community events, and often, prayer.
Administrative Support
Administrative – Some volunteers work in the admin office, managing client data, communications, and events like the East Pierce County Partnership Summit or the Monthly Ministry Leaders’ Luncheon. Administrative support is a less glamorous, but highly valuable volunteer role, and we’re always looking for more help in this area.
Board of Directors – Our six volunteer leaders shape our vision, measure success, ensure financial stewardship, and maintain professional operations. Their time is often served after hours or on the weekend, but their leadership is critical to our continued success. Still other volunteers serve in more unique ways.
Unique Opportunities
We welcome volunteer groups from Fife and Puyallup High Schools. These students, part of a job-readiness program for students with special needs, bring joy to our staff and volunteers with every visit.
Others step up spontaneously—like Debbi, who faithfully tends to our modest landscaping needs, or the occasional contractor fixing electrical, plumbing, or facility issues. Without their skills, building maintenance could cost us an additional $20,000 annually.
Debbi- Our Garden Care Volunteer
Her green thumb (and big heart) helps keep us growing strong—saving thousands in the process.
One particularly inspiring group is our court-ordered community service volunteers. As one of the few nonprofits in Puyallup offering community service opportunities, we support dozens of individuals annually, serving anywhere from 10 to 200 hours to fulfill their court-ordered obligations.
This group brings me special joy. Bible readers may be familiar with the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:35. “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in…” You can easily see how this applies to food banks. But in verse 36, Jesus adds “I was in prison, and you visited me,” encouraging us to do connect with those who find themselves on the wrong side of the law. I haven’t visited a prison in years (blessing to those who do the challenging work of serving inside the prison system), but I believe in the value of serving these folks.
Here in our context, the “prisoners” come to us. When I meet a community service volunteer, I always say, “Thank you for choosing to serve at the Puyallup Food Bank.” Even if court-ordered, they’ve chosen us, and we embrace them with the same love and sense of community shared among all volunteers.
Stories of Impact
For every paid staff hour, volunteers contribute three unpaid hours of service. When I started at the food bank in 2020, we had about 40 volunteer shifts weekly. Now, we’re nearing 300.
Yesterday, I met three new volunteers during their orientation. One, passionate about the environment, asked, “How much waste do you create? What do you do with recyclable plastic?” I explained that our processing team excels at separating produce for clients and diverting the rest to pig, chicken, and emu farmers (yes, emus!) in our community. As for plastic, the South Hill Rotary Club collects our recyclable plastic weekly. Led by volunteers Woody and Mary, their efforts have turned over 3,500 lbs of plastic into three Trex park benches for our community in just two years!
Meet Woody & Mary!
From plastic to park benches, Woody & Mary have helped recycle 3,000+ lbs with South Hill Rotary—cheers to turning trash into treasure.
During events, volunteer groups lighten the load. The Spring and Fall Puyallup Fair Food Drives require more than 600 volunteer hours to prepare, execute, sort, and distribute food. Organizations like Keller Williams Puyallup send about 20 staff annually to serve at the gates. My sincerest thanks!
Last week, 18 students from Cascade Christian School deep-cleaned, sorted food, interviewed regular volunteers, and built a chicken coop (more to come). In 2024, they also revamped our landscape strip, planting hundreds of flowers and pollinator plants to enhance our environment and aesthetic. These volunteers served nearly 500 hours in a single week.
Cascade Christian students served nearly 500 hours—cleaning, sorting, and building a chicken coop to support our space and community!
When our food bank began in 1972, I doubt our all-volunteer founders imagined our current scale. We now have a large building, eight staff, heavy equipment, and millions of pounds of freight. Yet, one thing remains unchanged: we are volunteer-led, and our volunteer community remains the heart of our work.
Our Promises
We make two primary commitments at the Puyallup Food Bank:
Our primary audience is every person and family we are privileged to serve. Our Promise to you is to treat you with respect and dignity, to show you love, and be a source of help and hope.
Our secondary audience is every volunteer, financial supporter, and community partner who joins us in living out our mission. Our promise to you is to steward your time and resources wisely and to provide you a place where you can serve, love, and give to your neighbor as part of a community of hope.
Our journey from a small, all-volunteer team in 1972 to a thriving hub of hope today is a testament to the power of community. Volunteers like Glenn, our dedicated students, and even court-ordered helpers, alongside every donor and partner, fuel our mission to serve with passion and love. As Big Dave, one of our Care Team volunteers said, “It’s wonderful… I get to represent nothing but kindness to someone who has the weight of the world on them.”
The need grows daily, and we can’t do it alone. Whether you can donate to keep our shelves stocked, volunteer to sort produce, greet clients, or spread the word to inspire others, your support transforms lives—ours and our neighbors’. Join us today at pfb.org/give to give, serve, or share, and become part of our community of hope.