Opportunities From: Meals from the Heartland

Bucket Brigade: A volunteer responsible for keeping bulk ingredient buckets stocked at packaging stations to ensure smooth workflow.

Bucket Brigades are essential behind-the-scenes volunteers who keep ingredient bins at each station stocked with bulk product. This physically active role ensures each station remains fully stocked with bulk ingredients, preventing delays and maintaining steady workflow. Drawing inspiration from a coordinated team or "brigade," work in sync with staff, Pack Masters, and fellow volunteers to support our mission of feeding the hungry.

Role Responsibilities:

Arrive early and check in with staff

Wear required safety gear (gloves, closed-toe shoes, hairnet)

Learn the layout of ingredient zones

Monitor ingredient levels at packaging stations

Refill bins with the correct bulk product—carefully and cleanly

Prevent spills and cross-contamination

Maintain cleanliness of buckets and scoops

Communicate needs or issues to staff promptly

Stay alert, mobile, and ready to assist throughout the shift

Help with end-of-shift cleanup and product storage

Volunteer Waiver Notice:
By signing up to volunteer with Meals from the Heartland, you acknowledge and accept our waiver of liability. Participation is voluntary, and Meals from the Heartland is not liable for any injuries or incidents that may occur during your service. Your registration confirms this understanding.

Packagers play a hands-on role in the fight against hunger by assembling nutritious meals at the Patty Cownie Packaging Center in West Des Moines. Volunteers work together at stations to fill, weigh, seal, and box meal bags during a two-hour shift.

Each Packager helps produce approximately 540 meals per shift, feeding two children for an entire year. This impactful opportunity supports Meals from the Heartland’s mission to alleviate hunger both locally and globally.

Role Responsibilities:

Arrive 10 minutes early and check in with staff

Attend a brief orientation at the start of the shift

Follow all sanitization and safety protocols

Work collaboratively in assigned station roles

Stay focused and meet packaging quality standards

Treat fellow volunteers and staff with respect

Stay through the full shift and assist with cleanup

Attire Requirements:

Wear closed-toed shoes

Remove all jewelry before packaging

Tie back long hair and fully tuck into a hairnet

Corporate groups are encouraged to wear branded apparel

Volunteer Waiver Notice:
By volunteering with Meals from the Heartland, you acknowledge and accept our waiver of liability. Participation is voluntary, and Meals from the Heartland is not liable for any injuries or incidents that may occur during your service. Your registration confirms this understanding

Join us for a high-impact volunteer experience! Help package bulk meals that go directly to feeding centers, getting food to children as quickly as possible.

This volume meal packaging project uses the same ingredients and process as our traditional meal packaging, just on a larger scale. Instead of packaging 216 meals into 36 small bags, volunteers package 216 meals into one bulk bag, allowing us to move more meals faster and farther.

Volunteers work together in a team-oriented, assembly-line setting, ensuring every ingredient is accurately measured and packed. We’ll need a few extra hands for lifting, typically 1–2 people per line lifting 10–25 lbs each, so please note that moderate lifting is required.

It’s a hands-on, energizing way to make an immediate impact and help families and communities in need.

We’re looking for 15–24 volunteers per shift to engage in this high impact challenge! 

Volunteer Waiver Notice:
By volunteering with Meals from the Heartland, you acknowledge and accept our waiver of liability. Participation is voluntary, and Meals from the Heartland is not liable for any injuries or incidents that may occur during your service. Your registration confirms this understanding