Unfortunately My Experience With Forgotten Harvest Is Delivering Boxes To The Wrong People & Address. If You Happen To Contact Someone They Stated Changes Can NOT BE DONE & There Is No WAY THEY CAN CORRECT THE PROBLEM. read more

I have done yearly work volunteer events here for the last 6 years. I don't mind setting up the events here since it's closer to home. Much of the food is donated by local stores or restaurants. They get a ton of stuff into their warehouse. They always go through the daily protocol in the big conference room. You are to wear gloves and a hair cover and beard cover for those with facial hairs. Now you can add a face mask to the attire too. You start the event work around 9am and work until 11am to noon. The warehouse job is the hardest. I have sorted through some rough looking potatoes, to water logged and decrepit looking cucumbers and tomatoes. It makes you really appreciate the foods we can easily pick through at the grocery store to get the most appealing ones. Any sign of mold gets tossed. This is the hardest of the jobs, but also the most rewarding since it's labor intensive too. I have also had the pleasure of assembling sandwiches in the kitchen too, with wheat squares of bread, some meat like slices of pork meat of some sort and cheese too. Volunteering your time and energy is greatly rewarding and so helpful to those in need. This is a great center that gives back ro the community. At the end of your day, they will brief you on how many bags or boxes of food were boxed that day. It's the only day big the original big 3 OEMs groups can collaborate and work together side by side without any intellectual property issues too. read more

I've been thinking of doing this for a long time and finally had the time to do it....and I am so glad that I did! It is very easy to sign up on the website, click on the day and time you want to come in and that's that! There are FAQ to guide you on certain things. My experience was golden! There were only ten of us there, January and February are tough months for them, they really needed more volunteers. For first timers like me, you go to the desk, give them your name and if you signed up on line that is all you have to do. Walk ins are welcome also, but then you have to fill out a short form. You go into the next room and a short orientation is given to you..just telling you about what they do. You grab an apron and a hair net and go into the warehouse, wash your hands and get gloves. When I went it was potatoes! Lots of potatoes! We had to fill a grocery bag half full, double tie it and place it in a big box. That was it. Some days are different, but this is what they did yesterday. We bagged up 5,604 pounds of potatoes in 2.5 hours! The two people that I worked with were very friendly and we chatted away! There were others that were quieter as well. There is music playing. It was all wonderful. After bagging it was clean up time and we swept the floor and wiped down the tables. I was worried that I would be frozen because the website said to dress warm. I am always cold so I kind of overdid it! I took off a couple of layers and was very comfortable in leggings, socks and sneakers, long sleeved t-shirt and light fleece jacket. The bathrooms are spotless and you can hang your coat in a big closet. You can bring a water bottle, but not in the warehouse...leave it with your jacket. Or there is a water cooler and cups in the lobby. I wore my fanny pack [don't laugh!!] to put my phone and keys in, I left my purse at home, but there are some lockers, not too many, to use if you like [keys are provided]. It is easy to park and the people there could not be any nicer. I went by myself and felt totally safe and welcome. I will be back, many times. read more

Today (11/6/10) is was my first time every hearing or helping volunteering with this company... My job was posting volunteers needed and their goal was to meet a 100 volunteer -- well we did it; there were a total of 120 people that came out and helped. The company is doing wonderful for enviroment and the community that needs help. Why waste when you can recycle?! So if you are looking for a place to volunteer to give back to the community or you even need community service -- this is a perfect to gain hrs. It's open 6 days a week and FREE helps is always welcome. read more

Every month I take a group from my nonprofit, the Good Girl Comeback, to spend a day volunteering in and around Metro Detroit. We try to volunteer at an assortment of organizations and just recently, we went to Forgotten Harvest. I had not been to Forgotten Harvest in years but I am VERY happy I returned. This is the PERFECT place to volunteer with groups, students and families. Safety is a HUGE factor when it comes to volunteering with teens and Forgotten Harvest gets an A++++ in our book. Our experience was organized, efficient, educational and very safe. When we arrived to the warehouse we were welcomed by an employee and directed to the boardroom where we filled out a waiver. Next, we watched a short video that explained who Forgotten Harvest helps and why volunteers are important to their organization. It was eyeopening to hear the information shared in this video and just how many of our neighbors struggle to put food on the table each month. After the orientation we were led into the warehouse where we quickly learned that Forgotten Harvest was serious about their mission to fight hunger and waste. Our task for the day was to transfer a donation of cheese-its from HUGE boxes and bag them to be distributed throughout the community We worked for about 2.5 hours and ended up bagging more than 1,300 pounds of cheese-its! All of the teens had a great day learning how to work hard and give back to their community. We worked for about 2.5 hours and ended up bagging more than 1,300 pounds of cheese-its! All of the teens had a great day learning how to work hard and give back to their community. The vibe at Forgotten Harvest is professional, clean, well organized and friendly. I can not stress enough how easy and worry-free it was to volunteer here. Forgotten Harvest is the perfect place to consistently volunteer at because you know your time will be well utilized and you can leave feeling confident that you did you best to give back to the community we all love. read more

If you are looking for a great place to volunteer, Forgotten Harvest is an option worth investigating. Whether you want to go by yourself or volunteer with a group they can accommodate you. I usually go by myself but I can see it would be a great team-building exercise. One day, a group from Allstate volunteered and then had a picture taken with the total amount packed. I'm sure they were going to include it in a newsletter or something. So that's a great idea plus they seemed to have a lot of fun together. On the Forgotten Harvest website check out the volunteer link. That will lead you to a spot where you can sign up online. Pick a shift that is convenient for you and / or your group. When you arrive at Forgotten Harvest for the first time they have an informative training and safety session. Then it is back to the repack room. Depending on the day, you may get grapefruits or potatoes or whatever else they need repacked. The work is as strenuous as you make it. If you want to go full speed and set the record like I do - go for it! But if you want to pace yourself, that's cool too. So I think you should check out volunteering at Forgotten Harvest. You can do it once and see if it's for you. And if not, it's just a couple of hours helping to feed people who are hungry. That is a win-win! read more

I am worn out! I along with about 15 others packaged up 4,600 pounds of Sweet Potatoes this morning. This is such a great place to spend a free day. Whether you are on your own, have a work team, a sports team or a scout troop this is a great place to put in some volunteer work. I truly appreciate how organized they are. When you are there you are not standing idle - you are working and that's why you go. It feels good to do the work and they are appreciative of the time you spend. I highly recommend it. read more

I've always admired Forgotten Harvest's mission of addressing two problems at once-hunger and waste. I've contributed to the organization for years and watched it grow from a very small group, through purchasing its first few refrigerated trucks, to purchasing the Oak Park facility, to burning the mortgage and onward. Forgotten Harvest consistently rates highly at Charity Navigator - http://www.charitynavigator.org/ - an independent charity evaluator that rates groups on their financials, efficiency in using their resources and transparency. So you know that your money will be wisely used and that a lot of hungry folks will be fed. You can help by volunteering as Shunda does, or you can help as we do by attending their events, buying their holiday cards in December or just donating a few bucks. We especially enjoy going to Forgotten Harvest's Champagne Cruise . It's one of their major fundraisers and held the night before the official Woodward Dream Cruse at Westborn Market on Woodward in Berkley. It's the best way to see the cruise (have the valet park your car, watch the Woodward action from a street-side table, snack on the awesome fruit-veggie-cheese spread Westborn puts out and sample food from a handful of other area restaurants...all while donating to a great cause). read more

Just got back from my first volunteer event at the Forgotten Harvest warehouse on Greenfield in Oak Park. My daughter and I went out to work a 1pm to 4pm shift. We were introduced to Vince who showed us a quick video of the Forgotten Harvest mission and how the whole process works. Then he had us put on aprons and hair nets and showed us to our work area in the warehouse. We spent the next couple of hours sorting donated tomatoes into 5 lb bags that would then be delivered to other organizations who would pass them out to people in need of food. There were about a dozen volunteers sorting these tomatoes so the work was done pretty quickly. After wiping down the tables, sweeping and mopping the floors we were done for the day. All in all I would say that is was a very easy day and I will be returning to volunteer again. This is a class organization that is helping thousands of people get food that is perfectly good to eat but would normally get thrown away. You should sign up and it a try. read more