Would you like to help your neighbors who are hungry and food insecure? Then join the Brigade!
Thank you for your interest in helping to feed our neighbors in need in New Jersey! As a volunteer with The Food Brigade, you will provide food, in the form of both fresh & packaged foods and prepared meals, to local families and individuals dealing with hunger and food insecurity. You may assist with food pickup, transport, preparation, distribution, and delivery. At times, we also help to supply other local pantries and relief organizations & agencies.
Want to see us in action? To get an idea of our hunger-relief operations, please visit our Facebook Page for details and images of some of our recent events and activities.
Volunteer Guidelines
All prospective volunteers must read and familiarize themselves with our volunteer guidelines:
How To Volunteer With Us
The first step is to complete and submit our Volunteer Application Form. Your application will then be reviewed, and someone will get back to you on its status. WE DO NOT ACCEPT "WALK IN" VOLUNTEERS WHO HAVE NOT SUBMITTED AN APPLICATION FORM WHICH HAS BEEN REVIEWED AND APPROVED.
The Food Brigade uses the Volgistics/VicNet volunteer scheduling system. Once your volunteer application has been approved, you can then access our Volunteer Portal. That is where you will sign up for assignments and shifts, track your volunteer hours, manage your contact information, and more.
We strongly recommend that you also install and use our mobile app, which brings the features of our Volunteer Portal to the palm of your hand:
- Download for Android (Google Play Store)
- Download for Apple (Apple Store)
Please note that in volunteering at any of our locations, you must sign up in advance for any shifts that you want to work. WE DO NOT ACCEPT "WALK IN" VOLUNTEERS FOR ANY OF OUR SHIFTS. Shifts fill up quickly, and if a shift is full, then we are at our maximum capacity and no more volunteers can be accepted for that shift. To review our current volunteer opportunities, please check out our Opportunities Directory.
>> CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR VOLUNTEER APPLICATION FORM
As a volunteer, we ask that you please "like" and "follow" our social media accounts, and that you help spread the word about our services by sharing our posts:
A number of our volunteers also support our operations financially, some with recurring or repeated donations. These donations help us to continue and expand our programs and services, and make a real difference in the lives of our clients. You can make a donation here.
If at any time you have any questions, please call or text us at 201-614-4414. We look forward to working alongside you in the fight against hunger and food insecurity in New Jersey!
Charitable Deductions for Mileage
If you contribute your time to a charitable organization such as The Food Brigade, you might be able to claim a mileage tax deduction. The deduction is meant to alleviate the expenses associated with giving your free time to good causes.
According to the IRS, any mileage incurred with your personal vehicle performing services for charitable organizations is eligible for a charity mileage deduction, so long as you were not already reimbursed by the organization. Any driving you do to get to The Food Brigade's distribution centers, our events, or any service for our organization, is also classified as charitable mileage.
The standard mileage rate for charity-related driving is $0.14 cents per mile. This rate is set by statute and has been unchanged since 1998.
Instead of using the standard charity mileage rate, you can choose to deduct actual expenses for your miles in service of charitable organizations, specifically gas and oil costs. You can’t deduct other vehicle-related costs for your charity miles such as registration, insurance, tires, maintenance, and depreciation.
No matter the deduction method you choose, you will be able to deduct your parking and toll fees.
In order to deduct expenses related to charity service, you must keep sufficient and timely records (including receipts) to present to the IRS. These include keeping a logbook of mileage you’ve driven with your personal vehicle, and fuel and oil costs if you deduct actual vehicle expenses. Smart phone apps are available in the Google Play store and the Apple app store.
Building Use Rules at Bergen Central Location (Dumont)
All volunteers at our Bergen Central distribution center (Dumont) must read and familiarize themselves with the following building rules of our host with respect to our use of the premises: