Volunteer
Like most community service organization, volunteers are PVEN’s lifeblood. More importantly, we feel our responsibility is not only to help clothe and feed people in need – we feel it is also our responsibility to give the general public the opportunity to feed their hearts.
Because that’s what volunteering does – it feeds your heart.
How can YOU help?
For the safety of our volunteers and clients, all volunteers must complete a brief interview and a number of background checks.
- Volunteer Form Call for appointment to discuss your interests
- Free PA Criminal Background Check Process
- Child Welfare Background Check (Use the Create Individual Account option)
Volunteer Age Requirements
- Volunteers for our year round programs must be 18 or older to participate.
- Volunteers for our seasonal programs must be 16 or older to participate.
- PVEN is not currently accepting volunteers under 16 years of age.
- Food Pantry – As an individual or a group, you can volunteer to help distribute food on a Tuesday or Saturday. This is an especially good activity to do as a group, so if your business or service organization is looking for a way to help the community as a group, we’d love to set up a date (or dates) for your team.We also need help all month long with re-stocking shelves, sorting food, picking up donations, and more.
- Clothing – As an individual you can volunteer to help distribute distribute clothing on a Friday or Saturday. As a group, you can help sort and fold donations that arrive all week long. This is a great activity for groups!
- Summer Lunch – We begin planning the summer lunch program in early spring, with active distribution as soon as school lets out. We need leaders to supervise distribution routes and on-site meal distribution, and volunteer workers to help prepare and hand out food. This is also a great opportunity for a church or service organization to take ownership of a specific distribution location one or more times a week.
- Angel Tree and Toys for Tots – The Angel Tree program begins planning in late summer and kicks into high gear around October. We need volunteers to help sign up qualified recipients, and as the big event approaches volunteers pick up angel toys from the churches and businesses that have collected them.
The big distribution day requires LOTS of volunteers to sort the toys, restock tables, and help people out to their cars.
- Admin and Facility – Providing a home for all these programs is no small task. Volunteers do much of the office work – meeting with clients, filing papers, assembling statistics. Volunteers also do most of the cleaning and basic repairs. If you enjoy working behind the scenes, or have a special skill in building maintenance, we sincerely need your help!
We welcome individuals and especially welcome groups that want to undertake projects as a team. If you have people who want to make a difference in the community, we have opportunities to do so!
