How to Register as a Volunteer for the Hunger Heroes Project

United Way of Greater New Bedford has announced the return of this amazing event.

The 6th Annual Hunger Heroes Project will take place on Saturday, November 21. The theme of “Families Helping Families” has never meant more than it does this year.
Victoria Grasela is the Vice President of Marketing and Community Engagement at United Way of Greater New Bedford. She explains that volunteers will be needed for a variety of positions as UWGNB works to fill 1,000 Thanksgiving meals for families in need in the Greater New Bedford area. Shifts will begin at 8:30 am and go until 4 pm. “We strongly encourage families to come together to give back since November 21 is National Family Volunteer Day!”

Registration opens on Wednesday, November 4 at 9 am.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, there can only be 50 people on-site at a time. UWGNB is also taking the following precautions to ensure the safety of all volunteers and staff:

• All volunteers and staff are required to wear masks the entire duration of their shift
• All volunteers and staff are required to wear gloves when handling food items
• Hand sanitizing stations will be visible throughout the space and volunteers and staff are encourage to sanitize or wash hands frequently
• Upon arrival, volunteers and staff will be asked to complete a short form confirming they are not showing any COVID-19 symptoms, have been out of state, or have had COVID-19 in the two weeks prior to the event. Everyone will have their temperature taken prior to entering the venue.
• Social distancing will be implemented throughout the event.

Grasela mentioned that there are some changes to be expected in regards to the process of the event. “Additionally, for those of you who have been in the past, the set-up of the event will change. Instead of one large packing assembly line, we will be breaking into three separate lines. Each line will have 10 sorters/packers and two meal-wrappers assigned to it to further implement social distancing.”

Position descriptions:

• Muscle Marvels and Sorting Superheroes will work to unload the boxes of collected food off of the Hunger Commission Truck. Once all food is unloaded, volunteers will unpack the boxes and sort food items. This opportunity is for volunteers 15 and older only.
• Meal Champions are responsible for packing the meal items on the “shopping list” in a turkey tin, preparing the tin for wrapping, and then wrapping the completed meal. This opportunity is for volunteers of any age.
• Meal Champion Wrappers are responsible for wrapping the meals once packing is completed and placing in boxes to be loaded on our truck. This opportunity is for volunteer 15 and older only.
• Order Restoring Squad will help with the final pieces of the day. Making sure everything is loaded onto the trucks, remaining boxes are broken down, and the gym is returned to order.

Teams are asked to sign up in groups of no more than five people for the Meal Champion, Sorting Superhero, and Muscle Marvel Positions in order to limit the number of families mixed together during the shifts.

Once you select the shift you want, click the "Respond as Team" button. Here you will be prompted to enter a team name, the number of people on your team, your t-shirt size, and to consent to the media release which can be viewed here. On the next page, you will be prompted to enter the names of everyone on your team, their t-shirt size, and age.

"Due to the number of families looking to volunteer for Hunger Heroes, we kindly ask that you only sign up for one shift. This year's event will be at Keith Middle School located at 225 Hathaway Road in New Bedford."