Harvest Hero

Harvest Heroes is a Forgotten Harvest volunteer group created to rescue food throughout Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties. Harvest Heroes rescues from a wide variety of food donors and delivers to designated food pantry partners. Each pick-up location averages about 50-75 pounds of food.

Each volunteer uses his/her own vehicle and gas mileage to complete the assigned route of 4-5 food rescue locations and 1-2 agency/food pantries. We aim to keep this within a 10-mile radius but due to routing and agency pairing we may exceed this radius for some routes. Typically, the route is scheduled for once a week with an approximate 2-to-3-hour commitment. Most routes start around 9:00 am and are usually completed by noon.

Volunteer Driver Routes

Wayne County - Floater (as needed)

Oakland County - Floater (as needed)

Macomb County - Floater (as needed)

Macomb County - Little Caesar Thursday Morning Route'

Requirements/Commitment

Vehicle Size: It is recommended that a full-size SUV is ideal to carry the 250+ lbs. However, other forms of vehicles like full-size cars, vans, pick-up trucks, others have been used.

Commitment to the Route: Because our food donors are expecting pick-ups on a weekly basis and our pantry partners rely on the food donations to feed those in need, we are looking for individuals with a long-term commitment. We do have provisions for absences or vacations, but we strongly depend on your commitment to your route assignment.

Physical Requirements: Our food donors designate areas for their respective donations, while most of the donations will be staged in containers or boxes for transporting the food to your vehicle. In most case it will be your responsibility to transport the food from the donor to your vehicle and from your vehicle to the food pantry partner. The weight of the boxes will vary but both the donor and food pantry partner will assist when needed.

Driver Requirements and Onboarding: Forgotten Harvest will require a volunteer waiver; a copy of your driver license and proof of insurance; authorization for a background check and a session on food safety training, all prior to assigning a route. Once those requirements are completed, a route can be assigned and someone from the Harvest Hero leadership will accompany you on your assigned route. You will be given a manual, thermometer and insulated totes or blankets.

Information Recording: Each food donor location requires the overall temperature to be taken at time of pickup then, the food will need to be sorted by category (prepared, produce, baked goods, dairy, meat and dry goods) weighed and recorded.

Food Safety: This is a critical part of our food rescue. Identifying quality food and packaging. Monitoring date codes and labeling. Temperature and spoilage control. All these and other elements will be explained during food safety training.

If you are interested in this opportunity and meet the above requirements, please email Dan Burbulla at: dburbulla@forgottenharvest.org. Volunteers must be at least 18 years of age.