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Thank you for your desire to join us in our efforts to fight hunger, poverty and malnutrition. Thank you for your time, energy, passion and resources. Your hard work and dedication are greatly appreciated.
YOU help make a difference and touch so many lives in your very own Lagos when volunteering at the Lagos Food Bank.
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VOLUNTEER – TOGETHER, WE CAN SOLVE HUNGER!

Your time is valuable and we are thrilled you are considering volunteering with us!

Volunteers are the heart of our organization. Lagos Food Bank is structured to provide service opportunities and operate through the work of volunteers. Our volunteers are fundamental to the success of our organization. They collect, sort, pack, and distribute food and donations, and remind us every day that our mission could not be achieved without them. Whether you can volunteer once a week, once a month or once a year; individually or with a group of friends, family or colleagues, whatever your commitment, every hour of assistance helps us ensure our hungry families will have access to food in their time of need and our ultimate goal is to provide the best possible volunteer experience and prepare our volunteers to become outspoken hunger advocates in our community.
When you donate your time to the Lagos Food Bank, you become a partner in the fight against hunger in Lagos and other parts of the country.– Thanks to our volunteers, Lagos Food Bank serves more than half a million vulnerable families each year across 20 LGA. Last year, volunteers donated 140,000 hours of their time to help distribute food items and donations to families, seniors, mothers and kids facing hunger in our community. What you do matters!

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Benefits of Volunteer Work

Whether working as an individual or in a group, volunteering brings tremendous impact that goes far beyond the mission of the organization; every person who chooses to volunteer experiences benefits, as well. Benefits include:

  • Making a difference: Providing a service to those in need brings a sense of accomplishment, pride, and happiness.
  • Learning new skills: Work done at volunteer organizations often differs greatly from work done in private businesses. By taking advantage of community service opportunities, one has the chance to learn more about other industries while gaining communication and teamwork skills.
  • Building community: Volunteering is an excellent way to build team spirit, foster relationships among group members, or make new friends.
  • Boosting your resume: People love to work with good people! Volunteer experience may boost your chances of landing a job or getting into your preferred college/University outside Nigeria.

If you are interested in volunteering, please take a minute to complete the volunteer interest form. It’s amazing what we can do when we work together.

Volunteering at the Lagos Food Bank Initiative is a great team-building experience and can be categorized into the following depending on how you want to render your time and services:

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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

  • VIRTUAL VOLUNTEERING:
    1.     Partnership and Fundraising
    2.     Communications ( apply to get more details )
    3.     Multimedia, Web development/Graphics
    4.     Grants writing
    5.     Food sourcing
    6.    Program creative and Contributors
    7.     Family farming (  Securing LFBI partnerships with commercial farms)
    8.    Research
    9 . Job Placement ( apply for more details)

Please note: If you are interested in virtual volunteering; kindly click here to SignUp.

Please note: The mode of activity execution and tracking of virtual hours would be communicated at the point of virtual volunteers’ onboarding

  • WAREHOUSE SORTING & PACKING
    Groups and individuals work together to sort and/or pack produce, nonperishable foods, clothings and household items, preparing them for distribution. Duties may include checking for opened packages and spoilage, labeling cans, cloth sorting, packing bags of food and household items.
  • COMMUNITY OUTREACHES
    We reach out to slum communities to serve hungry children and families. These community outreaches are done biweekly (on Saturdays). As the event draws closer, you will be sent an invitation which will require you to confirm your attendance. We have a variety of volunteer tasks available from clothes sorting, water packaging, traffic control, packaging of cooked and raw foods which are mostly performed during our community outreach preparation days. We also have Walk-Ins outreaches, were beneficiaries come to the food bank.
  • COMMUNITY INSPECTION & BENEFICIARIES REGISTRATION

Before any outreach, volunteers are required to visit the beneficiary community for inspection and registration of beneficiaries, giving them tags to identify them on the outreach day to ensure orderliness. Inspections are usually done a week to the outreach.

  • SPECIAL PROGRAMS
    We have nine special programs, but presently require volunteers for only our EDUFOOD and Family Farming programs. In due time, volunteers will be needed for our other programs.
    EDUFOOD This program is targeted at food insecure students in low-cost private schools in Lagos, it seeks to improve the nutritional status and health of food insecure students. It is also geared towards increasing school attendance, reducing dropout rates and increasing the children’s ability to concentrate and comprehend in class. Activities that involve EDUFOOD program will require assistance of volunteers for school inspection, food packaging and preparation, distribution, monitoring and evaluation.
    Family Farming: This program is designed to create a food and agricultural system that is managed and operated by a family, and relies on family labor to increase the quality of life in dignity, equity and reducing the level of hunger and poverty. The Goal of the program is to protect and expand the economic capacity of women through family farming as well as to develop on the essential contribution of women to agriculture. Volunteers will be required for home inspection, agricultural produce and material packaging and distribution, monitoring and evaluation.
  • MOBILE PANTRY
    Volunteers assist with the packaging and distribution of product to beneficiaries. Volunteers will also collect vouchers from clients and help with traffic control, verify beneficiaries have vouchers/tags before
    receiving product. Duties will also include cleaning up the area and left over and trash into truck.
  • Office administration: These activities include, fundraising, food sourcing, research, social media, graphic design, videography, photography, volunteer management and engagement, communication designs, nutritionist, to name a few. If you would like to take the career path in volunteering, you can also apply to volunteer full-time. Please click here to apply.
  • Lagos Food Bank Champions: You can also volunteer as an LFBI Champion. LFBI Champions are individuals who want to fight hunger, reduce food wastage, and solving the epidemic of malnutrition. The aim of a Champion is to help raise funds. These funds are used to run our outreaches and special programs. Please click here to sign up to be a Champion. You can visit our webpage and follow us on all social media platforms for updates on all our programs.
    Note: You have to be a registered volunteer in order to participate in any of our programs or events.

Required Volunteering Hours

    • Lagos Food Bank awards community service Certificate to volunteers who have successfully completed 120 hours of community service with the food bank.

    • If needed, Lagos Food Bank may provide a temporary document or a reference letter confirming volunteer hours or experience to volunteers who have completed over 67% of the mandatory 120 hours required for an LFBI community service certificate. To read the eligibility criteria for community service certificate and reference issuance Click here

 

  • How to register to become a Volunteer:
    – Fill out the volunteer registration online form to get started.
    – Once filled and submitted, an on-boarding confirmation email will be sent to your registered email.
    – Further information on the volunteering procedures and volunteer guidelines will be sent to your registered email as part of the on-boarding process. If you have any questions about volunteering, please contact via email: contactus@lagosfoodbank.org or call any of these numbers 08028741322 or 07058617222Volunteering:
For further information on how you can volunteer, please call: 07061722099 , 09060291044 , 07049246214 , 09060389145 , 09048885087


FAQ On Volunteering

Our major outreaches are typically held on the last Saturday of each month. However, we also conduct smaller outreaches that may take place on weekdays.

 

Kindly click here
Fill out the volunteer form, check your inbox ,promotion, spam folder ,open the instant email address sent by Lagos Food Bank, click on ‘’YES SUBSCRIBE ME’’ to this mailing list ,read instruction underneath the bottom. This will take 48hours to get full confirmation.

As a first time volunteer, you do. T-shirt prices are N6,000 or N8,000 while the High Quality Premium Polo is N10,000. Face caps are optional at N4,000 each. Payment should be made to our GTB Lagos Food Bank Account – 0461834490.

 

Click here to read the eligibility criteria for a reference and certificate issuance.

click here to fill out the reference application form.
click here to fill out the certificate application form.

Yes, we have a special way of welcoming you on board.

No, to purchase new TSHIRT, KINDLY pay before outreach, because t-shirt payment are no longer accepted on outreach day, only t-shirt pick up.

You might have entered your information’s wrongly, Kindly register again.

Kindly click here to view a list of activities you might be engaged in.

The minimum age is 12 years however, all volunteers under 15 would need to be accompanied by an adult.

Yes, it is. Kindly visit the “careers” section on the website for more information OR send your resume to hr@lagosfoodbank.org indicating your request in the body of the email.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, however our LFBI branded ID cards are given only to the staff & interns of Lagos Food Bank Initiative. Volunteers are only eligible for volunteers certificate and letters of attestation of volunteer hours.

Yes with a professional camera, that will be great. At the end of the event, please share the images taken with us via Google drive or Wetransfer and the likes to lagosfoodbank@gmail.com CC Contactus@lagosfoodank.org

Lagos Food Bank only makes transportation arrangements for volunteers who are able to fill in the warehouse venue on the attendance confirmation form when signing up for an upcoming outreach. Therefore, we advise volunteers to go straight to the outreach venue as a better option, considering the limited number of bus spaces.

 

LFBI will not bar a volunteer on such basis, however, due to the increase in absenteeism of volunteers after confirmation of attendance, we have started blacklisting volunteers with high track record of default from getting invitation for subsequent outreaches. We believe it is only reasonable that a volunteer confirm attendance only for the outreach he/she can attend to enable us plan accordingly. And if he/she is unable to attend, an email should be sent in this regard.

Wearing our branded shirts is compulsory if you must participate in our outreaches. The T-shirt is sold for N6,000 or N8,000, while Premium Polo is N10,000 – which indicate different qualities to fit your budget.

 

Registered volunteers over a period of time, are eligible for a certificate and reference letter from the Lagos Food Bank

To volunteer in with us you must be at least 12 years old. Youth 12 – 15 years old are required to volunteer with an adult, youth 16 years old and up can volunteer on their own.

We do not pay our volunteers except for the Intern volunteers who are paid monthly stipend to cover transportation only.

To become a volunteer, fill out the volunteer registration online form to get started. Once filled and submitted, an on-boarding confirmation email will be sent to your registered email. Further information on the volunteering procedures and volunteer guidelines will be sent to your registered email as part of the on-boarding process. The entire process takes an average of 72hours.

No! A volunteer is not allowed to be a beneficiary. However any volunteer willing to be a beneficiary will cease to be a volunteer to get food relief as a beneficiary.

Volunteers should wear close-toed shoes and clothes appropriate to work in a warehouse, kitchen or garden setting. No sandals/flip-flops, extremely short skirts/shorts or low-cut shirts. Individuals wearing opened toed shoes will not be allowed to participate in outreaches or community inspections.

Yes, each volunteer individual or group needs to sign in each time they volunteer at the Lagos Food Bank. Upon arrival please visit our volunteer lobby desk for instructions on how to sign-in.

We love the enthusiasm of all our volunteers! Yes, you can drop in during your free time. Our warehouse is open Mondays to Fridays for activities. However, you will need to register to become a volunteer before dropping by.

 

There is no whatsapp group for Lagos food bank volunteers. Do follow us on instagram, twitter, facebook and linkedin : @lagosfoodbank for updates.

Attend outreaches for 4-7 months to accumulate 120hours of Service. However, one the fastest ways to accumulate volunteer hours is to volunteer for the weekday programs; EDUFOOD, FAMILY FARMING, and OUTREACH PREPARATIONS.

Yes, you can. We welcome all types of donations both food and no-food items. Click here to see list.

We always advise that clothes and other donations are brought in before the outreach day. But If it will not be convenient, then they can be brought in on the morning of that outreach day but bear in mind they will not be distributed the same day. Your donations will be stored towards the next outreach.

No you won’t. All you need do is to confirm attendance via the invitation email that will be sent to you prior the outreach day.

Hi, thank you for your interest in Lagos Food Bank. We strongly advise you fill the absence notification form to inform us so as to create space for other volunteers who might want to join but could not due to form closure. You can also volunteer on the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before the outreach at Lagos Food Bank, to help with the preparation towards the
event day.

Certificates are usually prepared on formal request made to the food bank requesting same. To qualify for a community service certificate; you must have rendered 120 hours of community service and been an active volunteer for a minimum of 7 months. Click here to read more on the eligibility criteria for a certificate issuance.

To fill out the certificate application form  click here

Yes, you can, although we advise you to make payments prior to the outreach day. Our branded shirts are sold for N6,000 or N8,000, while the Premium Polo is N10,000 all available in different sizes and colours. Payment for the t-shirt should be made to our GT Bank account 0461834490. Please, remember to come with a proof of payment.

 

No it does not. Donation is not compulsory at Lagos Food Bank. However, you will have to buy a shirt to participate.

We welcome new Donors; kindly send a mail to contactus@lagosfoodbank.org or Partnership@lagosfoodbank.org

No, you won’t be disqualified. While preparation activities at the warehouse are not a prerequisite for attending the outreach, they can help you accumulate more volunteering hours faster to meet the eligibility criteria for reference or certificate collection.

 

Yes, this is part of our major goal for 2022.

We currently run 9 programs and we hold outreaches from time to time. We advise that you keep a tab on your email and our social media pages to get updates on this.

No, you would not be disqualified from attending outreaches if you do not donate money or materials to the food bank. We are grateful for your time donation.

Yes, you can purchase your T-shirt at the outreach venue. Kindly head to the registration table upon arrival of the outreach venue to get one.

We welcome new donors to support our programs. Kindly send an email to partnerships@lagosfoodbank.org and CC contactus@lagosfoodbank.org

Bear in mind that when you visit a slum, you should expect the characteristics of a slum like dirt, rowdiness, touts etc. On our part, we do everything possible to nip all forms of disturbance in the bud and since inception we have not recorded any violent cases.

Once you are a registered volunteer, you will receive a detailed email regarding this before the outreach day.

No, you will not be disqualified, however, you are encouraged to attend when available.

If you will be heading to the foodbank first on the event day, you may spend about 6 hours of community service. However, this is not cast in stone as the timing may vary based on circumstances that may involve us closing earlier or later.

Yes, for preparations and if he/she is a registered volunteer who confirmed attendance for the event.

No, you do not have to. Purchasing of the LFBI t-shirt is one off (you can decide to purchase more at your own will)

Yes, you can come with your donations on the outreach morning. Kindly keep the items in a safe place till the food bank team arrives. Please bear in mind that items donated on the outreach day will be distributed at the next outreach.

Lagos Food Bank is a non-profit, private owned and nutrition focused initiative committed to fighting hunger, reducing food waste and solving the problem of malnutrition through 7 key programs. We use an integrated food banking system to support meaningful community nutrition while also building long-term health through urban farming, maternal and child health and improved school outcomes. All our operations are made possible through our strong network off over 17,000 volunteers and beneficiary organizations who help vulnerable families across South West, Nigeria.

When you have a big dream to feed thousands of people but your finances do not match up to your dream, you can only but start from where you are and from what you have. This implies starting small. Sometimes, it is very wise to have an impact in one state where you are likely to have financial support from family and friends to touch several lives than embarking on feeding the entire nation and become overwhelmed by the huge task. More so, rural urban migration and worsening economic situation of the country has made Lagos State more vulnerable.
Thousands of people are suffering in the midst of affluence in Lagos coupled with the fact that living standard is more expensive in Lagos compared to other states in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, most NGOs face the following challenges: Lack of Trust, Lack of funding and Lack of volunteers due to the bad antecedent of NGOs in Nigeria wherein it is used as an avenue to make fast money. A lot of good hearted people have lost trust and confidence in any start up NGO in Nigeria and this makes it very difficult for the good ones to thrive. The lack of goodwill affects funding and the support of the civil society at large towards NGOs. At LFBI, we chose to be transparent about our finances and donors and this has helped us a great deal. We are able to earn the trust of the people and in turn earned funding and brought more volunteers.

Our major method of communication is through email communication. Please bear in mind that Lagos Food Bank has no WhatsApp group and does not support the opening of WhatsApp groups to communicate its activities. We also pass important information through our social media platforms. All volunteers are expected to follow our main page @lagosfoodbank and other programs pages: @edufoodng, @numeplan, @familyfarming, @foodbankjobs, @nids.ng and @lagosfoodbankvolunteers.

 

Yes, we would be delighted to reference your volunteering experience with us provided you have met certain conditions. To qualify for a reference, you must have rendered over 80 hours of community service and been an active volunteer for a minimum of 4 months. Click here to read more on the eligibility criteria for a reference/recommendation issuance.

To fill out the reference application form click here

 

DATE CHANGE

Why was the outreach changed to Saturday?

The dates of outreaches are decided by the partner for the stated program.

FREQUENCY OF OUTREACH

How often are the outreaches

The food bank has TEFAP community interventions at least twice to three times in a month and information about the outreaches will be communicated via emails and on our social media pages.

DONATION

What if I want to donate cash to assist

You can make your financial donations via bank transfer and register it at the registration table at the food bank or outreach venue. You can make payments to either of the accounts below:

Account: 0463977946 – GTB

Account: 1016014957/Zenith Bank

Account: 0106793890/Union Bank

Account: 1020057249/UBA

Account: 0002221706/Standard Chartered Bank

Account name: Lagos Food Bank Initiative

COMMUNITY INSPECTION

What does the community inspection/beneficiary registration entail?

Before any outreach, volunteers are required to visit the beneficiary community for inspection and registration of beneficiaries, giving them tags to identify them on the outreach day to ensure orderliness. Inspections are usually done a week to the outreach.

COMMUNITY INSPECTION

When is the community inspection held?

The community inspection is usually done a week before the outreach program. Volunteers who have indicated interest in joining the inspection activities will be scheduled and an email will be sent across with the necessary information.

COMMUNITY INSPECTION

I do not get mails for inspection after stating interest

This is well noted. Volunteers are scheduled to partake in beneficiary registration and community inspection, we will work to ensure you join the team during this volunteering activity.

TIMING OF OUTREACH

COMMUNITY INSPECTION

When do we close from each outreach
For morning outreaches, it typically ends before 2pm. However, the closing time for each outreach depends on distance and nature of the outreach.

WEEKEND VOLUNTEERS

COMMUNITY INSPECTION

For Volunteers who are in the corporate space and are not for other outreach programs, how do we complete community working hours?
You are welcome to join us for Community Inspection, Community Outreaches (TEFAP) and preparatory/box packaging activities (Saturdays 12 noon – 5pm). These activities usually occur on weekends except stated otherwise. For further information about completing volunteering hours, please click here

Busy volunteers can also sign up to be a virtual volunteer; kindly click here to SignUp.

NON-REGISTERED VOLUNTEER

Can non registered persons volunteer?

No, the person will be required to register (here) to enable the person to participate in LFBI’s volunteering activities.

DRESS CODE

Hope I can wear skirts?

Due to the nature of our activities, skirts are not allowed for community outreaches, however, you can volunteer inside  the warehouse for box packaging.  The dress code for the preparations/warehouse box packaging is flexible as you do not have to wear your LFBI branded t-shirt

VOLUNTEERING HOUR

How do i find out my total number of volunteer hours with LFBI?

As a volunteer, you are encouraged to always keep a record of all LFBI activities you attend. Further guidelines on how to calculate volunteer hours are included in the volunteer starter pack you received with your onboarding email. If you do not have access, kindly click here

T-SHIRT COLLECTION PAST 3-4 MONTHS

I have paid for the T shirt since last year August haven’t collected it because I have not had time to attend any of this program; Please will I still be able to get it ?

This is well noted, however the stated period for pick up of volunteers t-shirt is 3 months after payment. Kindly make payment for your t-shirt to our GTBank account (0461834490). T-shirts go for N4,000 or N6,000, while Premium Polo is N7,500 and can be picked up at the food bank administrative building or on the outreach day at the registration table.

TIME TO ARRIVE AT THE OUTREACH VENUE

What is the latest time one should be at the venue?

Please check your invitation and follow up email for this information. Time of arrival varies from one outreach to the other.  Proximity of the food bank to the outreach venue could be a factor. Always read through your email for answers.

GROUP CHAT FOR VOLUNTEERS

Is there any group chat for volunteers?

No, we do not have a general group chat for volunteers. All our communications are done directly via email, except for special programs like EDUFOOD.

Please bear in mind that Lagos Food Bank has no WhatsApp group and does not support the opening of WhatsApp groups by volunteers to communicate its activities. Therefore, opening and joining WhatsApp groups under the Lagos Food Bank Umbrella leads to outright disqualification as a volunteer if such WhatsApp group is not opened or initiated by the LFBI management/staff.