Start your volunteering journey with OzHarvest and register your interest in becoming a food rescue volunteer! We will talk you through our food rescue operations in Cairns and across Australia, and lay out how you can make a powerful contribution to our mission to Nourish Our Country by volunteering your time.

On Sunday through Thursday, our refrigerated van collects up to a tonne of quality excess food per day that would otherwise go to waste from restaurants, cafes, hotels, supermarkets, wholesalers and caterers across Cairns and beyond. This food is then redistributed to a number of local charities providing assistance to people in need. Our food rescue and relief services are completely free of charge to donors and recipient charities.

Each week, we prevent tonnes of good food from going to landfill. Our regular and free food deliveries to charities enable them to provide crucial food relief services while reducing their food spending and redirecting vital funding into education, rehabilitation and other services.

In particular, we are seeking volunteers to support our drivers on their full-day Tuesday and Thursday food rescue runs, as well as at our Rusty's Market food rescue pick-up on Sunday afternoons. You will assist the van driver in the efficient and timely collection and sorting of surplus food, and be an ambassador for OzHarvest to our donors, recipients and the general public.

No prior skills are required (though we’d love to hear from you if you have specialised skills, too!), we just ask for a reasonable level of fitness, can-do attitude and a friendly, respectful personality. If you've been thinking about volunteering and are looking to donate your time to an organisation with passion, heart and soul, where you can make an immediate and tangible contribution to your community, we'd love to hear from you!

THE ROLE WILL INCLUDE:

• Assisting the driver in physical collection of food from donors
• Loading food into the van following Food Safety and Manual Handling Guidelines
• Weighing donated food and assisting the driver to log details of volume/type of food collected in our smart phone app
• Assisting in unloading and distribution of food to recipient agencies
• Liaising with food donors, recipient charities, and fellow OzHarvesters
• Being an Ambassador for OzHarvest and represent us in a positive manner in all dealing with donors, recipient charity staff and clients, and the general public.
• Other volunteering roles may arise from time to time, including community events/market stalls, fundraising and education roles with our FEAST program.

SUITABLE APPLICANTS WILL HAVE:

• Strong communication skills
• A reasonable level of physical fitness - lifting is involved
• Ability to complete Manual Handling, Safe Food Handling Awareness and Covid-19 Infection Control online training - modules will be provided
• A team-oriented approach
• A positive, flexible, can-do attitude
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Understanding the sensitive issues faced by vulnerable people connected to the charities we service

WHAT YOU WILL GET OUT OF THIS OPPORTUNITY:

• A sense of contribution in making a difference to people in need
• Be emotionally rewarded for your efforts in this community focused role
• An understanding of the various organisations that work with those doing it tough
• An understanding of the challenges that face people who rely on food assistance
• Increased community awareness
• Interaction with the OzHarvest team while assisting us achieve our positive social and environmental impact.