Volunteer with us!

Volunteers must be 12 years or older, and volunteers between the ages of 12-15 must be accompanied by an adult for the duration of their shift. For every 5 youth, 1 adult should plan to volunteer with the group. To ensure safety, this policy is not flexible.

Please cancel or update your volunteer reservation as early as possible. This gives other volunteers time to fill the spot and helps ensure we can get food out to our neighbors who are relying on us!

• If you are a group leader, please make group cancellations or adjustments in the volunteer portal at least 1 week before the shift. (Please note: Each group member must register and join the group 7 days before the event. Any unregistered spots at that point will be released and made available for public sign-up.)
• If you are an individual volunteer, please cancel your reservation in the volunteer portal at least 48 hours in advance.

Here’s how to cancel your shift using the Volunteer Portal:

• • Log in to your account
  • Click on your initials in the top right-hand corner
  • Choose OPPORTUNITY RESPONSES from the list, you will be brought to your volunteer shift reservation(s)
  • Under the OPTIONS column, Click on SELECT AN ACTION next to the shift you want to change
  • Select UNREGISTER, then click YES to confirm

Download and print our Preparing for Your Volunteer Shift at Second Harvest Foodbank document to keep our reminders handy!

Yes, we are happy to verify hours for court-ordered service. You can learn more and sign up for a volunteer shift here.

If you need hour verification, please reach out to volunteers@secondharvestsw.org after completing the hours needed. Please note that hour verifications can take up to 5 business days to complete.

Yes, most service hours can be verified by accessing your personal volunteer snapshot which shows your volunteer role, hours history, and more. Access your hours by following these steps:

• • Log in to your account in our volunteer portal
  • Click on your initials in the top right-hand corner
  • Choose MY PROFILE from the list
  • Under your name, click on VOLUNTEER SNAPSHOT
  • You can edit the time range by editing the START and END
  • Click on GO – this will download a PDF of the snapshot to your browser
  • You can save or print this PDF!

If you need additional verification, contact volunteers@secondharvestsw.org after completing the hours needed.

Please note that hour verifications can take up to 5 business days to complete.

You can check to see if there are any last-minute openings and invite a friend to sign up by viewing shifts here! All volunteers must have a Second Harvest Volunteer Portal account and complete the required waiver.

Please note: Anyone under 18 will need to have a parent or guardian complete a youth waiver.

Our team loves deepening your volunteer experience through learning and reflection. We have limited capacity to offer mini presentations before or after your shift. Contact us at volunteers@secondharvestsw.org or give us a call at 608-216-7214 to learn more!

Internships have been filled for Summer 2026. Please check back July/Aug for Fall 2026 internship openings!

Community Voice Intern (Role Filled!)– The Community Voice Intern will support administrative and outreach efforts related to community voice initiatives.

Partnerships & Community Impact Intern (Role Filled!)– The Partnerships and Community Impact Intern will support communication and engagement efforts with our network of almost 300 partners across our 16-county service area.

• We at Second Harvest encourage you to reflect on your experience and use the resources below to further your connection to the community:
• • Connecting the Cause
  • Morgridge Center for Public Service: Community Engagement Preparation Resources
  • TED Talk: How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them
  • University of Memphis’ Comparison Between Asset and Deficit Based Approaches
• Educate yourself and others about food insecurity and food systems.
• Food insecurity is a complex issue that isn’t always easy to solve. We’ve linked some resources to help you learn more and reflect on the ways our communities can tackle hunger:
• • Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap
  • Feeding Wisconsin’s State of Hunger
  • Hunger Stats

• Support community through other pathways to service:
• • Second Harvest recognizes that the opportunity to volunteer is not available to everyone in our community. We also thank those that choose to help end food insecurity by means of community organizing, advocacy, philanthropy, voting, and self-education.

Explore our library of easy-to-follow handouts and videos designed to help you get the most out of the SHF volunteer portal. The portal is your go-to place for finding volunteer opportunities, signing up to help, and tracking your involvement as anGroup volunteering offers corporate teams, community organizations, and other groups a meaningful way to give back together. SHF volunteer.

• How To Schedule & Cancel an Individual Volunteer Shift (Video)
• How To Schedule a Group Volunteer Shift (Step-By-Step Instructions & Video)
• How To Schedule a Youth Group Volunteer Shift (Step-By-Step Instructions & Video)
• How to Manage Your Group (Step-By-Step Instructions & Video)