Question 1

What volunteer opportunities are available?

Accepted Answer

Community Care Team
Join a team of volunteers who work together to support neighbours in need  (e.g., isolated seniors, single parents, youth, children, etc.). Tasks can include connecting neighbours with resources, friendly phone calls, follow-up and care for food bank clients, building rapport, making a meal for a neighbour in need, and/or home visits (outside their door only) to drop off groceries, a warm meal, and a friendly conversation, etc.

We seek volunteers who are interested in ongoing training opportunities (e.g. Trauma Healing, Plan to Protect, Wrap Around, etc.).

For any further questions, you can contact Lily Su at lily.su@neighbourlink.org (mailto:lily.su@neighbourlink.org)or 416-221-8283 ext 6.

Food Distribution Volunteers
We seek volunteer support at our 2 food banks:
1. 415 Food Hub - located at 415 Willowdale Ave (fourth Friday of every month in the morning, afternoon, and evening)
2. 675 Food Hub - located east of Bayview and Sheppard (every other Wednesday morning and afternoon)

Volunteer roles include unloading food, set up, checking in and greeting food hub clients, distributing food, delivering food, and event clean up.

Event Volunteers
Several times a year, NeighbourLink North York hosts large community events, which you’re welcome to visit the Events page t(https://www.neighbourlink.org/pastevents)o learn more (e.g., Taste of North York, Let’s Move Willowdale BBQ & Move-a-thon, Single Mothers Day Tea Party, Christmas Market & Walking Parade, etc.)

We require volunteers in various roles such as event planning, fundraising and outreach, greeting event attendees, stage support, photography and videography, selling cotton candy/hot chocolate, facilitating activities and conversations, loading/unloading vehicles, setting up tables and equipment, event tear down/clean up, etc.

Postering Volunteers
NeighbourLink North York hosts numerous events and initiatives a year in Willowdale and would appreciate your help with putting up posters around the community to help promote each event!

Seniors Event Volunteers
We host various activities at our seniors events (e.g., chair yoga, dancing, physio, bingo, arts and crafts, etc.) and we seek volunteers to engage seniors in these activities as well as help with distributing food and refreshments and event setup and clean-up. We also seek volunteers who are skilled (or open to) initiating conversations and building rapport with the seniors who attend our events. These events typically take place every other Thursday afternoon, but sometimes in the evening or on other weekdays as well.

Summer Youth Mobilization Volunteers
Are you a youth between ages 13-17 and looking to make a meaningful impact in the community while gaining volunteer hours, and potentially gaining leadership experience? We welcome youth to join us in working together, in various lead and team player roles to create community initiatives together to better our community. These opportunities often take place multiple times a week in the summer months. Initiatives we’ve run together include a Youth Entrepreneurship Fair, Eco-conscious Garden Party, Tech Support for Seniors, Park Clean Ups, Photography Walk, Mental Wellness Workshop, Recreational Drop-In (with various sports and arts activities), etc. 
Learn more on our Youth Mobilization Network page (https://www.neighbourlink.org/youthmobilization)

Tech Support for Seniors Volunteers
We are seeking volunteers who can support seniors with offering basic tech needs at drop-in style events in which seniors bring in their own devices (ie. phones, laptops, tablets). Volunteers would be asked to support seniors with their inquiries, such as showing seniors how to back up their data on their devices, how to navigate social media and apps on their devices, translate for them with a customer service rep on the phone, etc.
These events take place in the Willowdale community every 1-2 months for 2-hour sessions, with our team in the event space for a total of 3 hours to account for time to set up, clean up, and wrap up any last-minute tech support requests and conversations.
We especially encourage volunteers to sign up if they can read and speak in Cantonese, Korean Mandarin, Farsi, Russian, Spanish, and/or Ukrainian.
Volunteer Leads
Do you like bringing the best in people? Help us lead volunteer teams at our various events and programming! This role can include: Volunteer Coordinator, Meal Train Team Lead, Driver Team Lead, Postering Team Lead, Food Distribution Team Lead, etc. For further questions, contact Lily Su at lily.su@neighbourlink.org (lily.su@neighbourlink.org)or 416-221-8283 ext 6

Volunteer Drivers
We would appreciate the support of volunteers with a valid G licence, access to a vehicle, some daytime availability, and a passion to support the community!

We have roles for drivers who are available to make short trips within Willowdale to pick up and/or drop off food at our food bank locations and/or to the homes of families in need. We also occasionally seek support from volunteer drivers to help with moving event supplies to and from our office to the event space, which would both be within Willowdale.

Our drivers are the face of NeighbourLink North York, and are very much appreciated! To discuss this exciting opportunity, you can contact Lily Su at lily.su@neighbourlink.org (mailto:lily.su@neighbourlink.org)or 416-221-8283 ext 6.

Question 2

How can I volunteer?

Accepted Answer

Thank you for your interest! Please scroll above and click on the orange rectangle labelled “SIGN UP to VOLUNTEER” and proceed to our volunteer application.

If you have any questions, you can contact Lily Su at lily.su@neighbourlink.org (mailto:lily.su@neighbourlink.org)or 416-221-8283 ext 6.

Question 3

What is the process for signing up to volunteer?

Accepted Answer

First, please scroll above and click on the orange rectangle labelled “SIGN UP to VOLUNTEER” and proceed to our volunteer application. In the online volunteer application, you will be asked to create an account on our volunteer page and then to provide your contact information, availability, an emergency contact, 2 professional references, and share some of your skill sets and interests. You will also be asked to provide certificates for 2 mandatory online training courses we require all volunteers to have completed before they start volunteering  (more info is in the volunteer application itself) . These trainings typically take a total of 2-2.5 hours to complete.

This is not required, but you will also have the option to share your police check, Vulnerable Sector Screening (VSS), Food Handlers Training certificate, etc., if available.

After submitting your volunteer application, the Volunteer Coordinator, Lily Su, will contact you via email to book an online volunteer interview meeting with you.

Once all the above aspects are completed successfully, you will be a part of the NeighbourLink  North York volunteer team!

To volunteer, you will need to sign up for specific shifts (e.g. Friday, August 22, from 2:30-6:00 pm). To sign up for shifts, you will need to log into your volunteer account (which you created as part of the volunteer application process). The specific steps to signing up for shifts can be reviewed if you scroll down on this page to “How do I sign up for volunteer shifts?”.

After you’ve signed up for volunteer shifts, you can expect an email 1-2 days before your shifts with further details for your volunteer role.

Question 4

When do your volunteer opportunities usually take place?

Accepted Answer

Most of our volunteer opportunities take place on weekdays, typically in the afternoon or evening. We have volunteer opportunities about once a week. In the summer, we would have multiple volunteer opportunities every week. We also have occasional volunteer opportunities on weekends.

Registered volunteers will typically receive a couple of emails a month to inform them of upcoming volunteer opportunities.

Question 5

Are there group or corporate volunteer opportunities available?

Accepted Answer

We invite groups to invite with us in the volunteer opportunities below, which all take place on weekdays in-person in the Willowdale community:

415 Food Hub - located at 415 Willowdale Ave (Willowdale/Finch area)
 • Food unloading and distribution on the fourth Friday of every month in the morning, afternoon, and/or evening
 • Food sorting on a weekday, typically during the third or fourth week of the month

675 Food Hub - located east of Bayview and Sheppard 
 • Food unloading and sorting every other Wednesday morning and afternoon
 • Food distribution every other Wednesday afternoon

Tech Support for Seniors
We are seeking volunteers who can support seniors with offering basic tech needs at drop-in style events in which seniors bring in their own devices (ie. phones, laptops, tablets). Volunteers would be asked to support seniors with their inquiries, such as showing seniors how to back up their data on their devices, how to navigate social media and apps on their devices, translate for them with a customer service rep on the phone, etc.
These events take place in the Willowdale community every 1-2 months for 2-hour sessions, with our team in the event space for a total of 3 hours to account for time to distribute refreshments, set up, clean up, and wrap up any last-minute tech support requests and conversations.
We especially encourage volunteers to sign up if they can read and speak in Cantonese, Korean Mandarin, Farsi, Russian, Spanish, and/or Ukrainian.
If you have any questions, you can contact Lily Su at lily.su@neighbourlink.org (mailto:lily.su@neighbourlink.org)or 416-221-8283 ext 6.

Question 6

How do I sign up for volunteer shifts?

Accepted Answer

If you have not already completed the volunteer application, please scroll above and click on the orange rectangle labelled “SIGN UP to VOLUNTEER” and proceed to our volunteer application.

If you have already completed the volunteer application, please scroll above and click on the orange rectangle labelled “Log In Here to Volunteer” and proceed to log into your volunteer account. Once you’re logged in, select the “Opportunities” tab at the top of the page. You can then either view volunteer opportunities in the List or Calendar format. 
1. View the various volunteer opportunities. 
2. To sign up for an opportunity, select the activity you are interested in to see the description (time commitment, date, further details) and if there are any available shifts.
3. If there are available shifts, you can select the “Sign Up” button to sign up for the shift.
4. We will email you with more information about the volunteer activity closer to your shift date, so ensure you check your email.

Question 7

How old do you need to be to volunteer?

Accepted Answer

You must be age 13 or older to volunteer on your own at our volunteer opportunities. Volunteers are are parents/guardians and at the age of 18 or older are welcome to check in with our Volunteer Coordinator, Lily Su, about bringing children under age 13 with them to their volunteer shift(s). Inquire with Lily Su at lily.su@neighbourlink.org (mailto:lily.su@neighbourlink.org)or 416-221-8283 ext 6.

Question 8

I work/go to school full time. Do you have any volunteer opportunities on the evenings or weekends?

Accepted Answer

We do have evening volunteer opportunities, usually twice a month, as well as occasional weekend volunteer opportunities.

Typically, our evening volunteer opportunities include our monthly food distribution in the Willowdale/Finch area with a volunteer shift from 5:30-8 pm. We do have volunteers who arrive a bit later as they need more time to come over from work. I would ask that you let me know if you will be late. We also have a monthly food sorting shift at the food hub on the Tuesday before each distribution from 5-8 pm.

We also have biweekly recreational seniors events and we occasionally have these events in the evening (sometime between 5-9 pm). For weekend volunteer opportunities, we have occasional volunteer opportunities at our events, e.g. Newcomers Welcome Tea, Let's Move Willowdale, Taste of North York, Christmas Market, etc. You're welcome to learn more about these events by visiting our Events page.

Once you are registered as a volunteer you would be informed about all of the above volunteer opportunities.

Question 9

Do you offer references for volunteers?

Accepted Answer

Volunteers can inquire about receiving a reference from NeighbourLink North York after completing 25 volunteer hours. Inquire with Lily Su at lily.su@neighbourlink.org (mailto:lily.su@neighbourlink.org)or 416-221-8283 ext 6.

Question 10

Do you offer letters to PR applicants and refugee claimants?

Accepted Answer

Volunteers can inquire about receiving a letter from NeighbourLink North York after completing 25 volunteer hours. Inquire with Lily Su at lily.su@neighbourlink.org (mailto:lily.su@neighbourlink.org)or 416-221-8283 ext 6.

Question 11

How often do I need to volunteer?

Accepted Answer

Volunteers are only required to commit to the volunteer shifts they sign up for (e.g. Friday August 22 from 2:30-6 pm). No long-term or regular commitment required. We do ask that all volunteers are at least active on their volunteer account once a year (e.g. browsing the available volunteer shifts).

Bénévole

En faisant du bénévolat avec nous, vous pouvez soutenir nos valeurs clés, acquérir une expérience précieuse et entrer en contact avec d'autres membres de la communauté.

Nous sommes toujours à la recherche de bénévoles pour nous rejoindre dans notre travail !

Already signed up on Better Impact?

Opportunities Available
(learn more about each role below)

Community Care Team

415 Food Hub (Food Bank) Volunteers

Neighbourhood Drivers

Volunteer Leads

Event Volunteers

Youth Mobilization Network

Postering Volunteers

Seniors Programming Volunteers

Make a meal for a neighbour

Park Cleanups