We’re Excited to Welcome Our Volunteers Back to Campus!

We have reopened volunteer opportunities in meal packing to individual and group volunteers Monday-Friday in shifts from 9-12 and 1-4pm, with up to 10 volunteers assisting in either shift. For the time being, we are asking that all volunteers wishing to work in our packing areas be fully vaccinated with any of the approved COVID-19 vaccines, and that at least 10 days have lapsed since your final shot. We sincerely hope you understand that we have to practice an abundance of caution as we reopen, and will adjust our policy as we continue to monitor the situation.

The new policy will require that volunteers acknowledge our new guidelines and sign a new waiver indicating an awareness of the risks of COVID-19 and the health regulations surrounding our efforts to mitigate this risk. It also requires that you upload proof of vaccination. Our team can assist you with this process and answer any questions you may have. Again, this is a fluid situation and this requirement will only be in place as long as it is necessary to ensure the health of our volunteers, staff, and those we serve.

If you or your group have not yet been vaccinated, we still need your help and invite you to assist in Meal Delivery or as a Delivery Concierge at this time. Both of these volunteer opportunities are equally crucial to our success in ensuring that all of our meals are delivered each day.

Open Hand Atlanta continues to actively monitor the situation in regard to COVID-19 and its long-term implications on our ability to accommodate larger volunteer groups. While we regularly hosted 25-50 volunteers on campus prior to the pandemic, this will no longer be the case — at least for the foreseeable future. This past year required us to modify our operations in order to maintain greater social distancing and safety, and even though we’ve been doing more with less, we continue to serve an even greater number of our medically fragile friends and neighbors.

But don’t worry! Over time there may be opportunities for larger groups to safely volunteer in other areas, with special events or for special days of service. We’ll keep you posted in reference to those opportunities and do our best to work with you to try to make the volunteer experience fun, meaningful and impactful.

For those of you returning to our campus, please be aware of our new Safety Guidelines & GMP’s:

• All meal packing volunteers must have taken the COVID-19 vaccination and provide proof before entering our packing area.
• If you are sick or feel unwell at the time of your shift, please alert Volunteer Services to cancel your shift.
• On campus volunteers must consent to a temperature check when you enter our building. If your temperature is 100.2 or higher, we will ask that you cancel your shift.
• All volunteers must wear a mask at all times covering your mouth and nose.
• No jewelry is allowed in our packing area (watches, earrings, chains, etc).
• Volunteers must have sneakers (closed toe), pants covering to their ankles.
• Hairnets must be worn in our packing/cooler areas.
• Hands must be washed and new gloves will be provided for each meal rotation on the line

If you are interested in bringing a group (5 or more volunteers), please call the volunteer services number at 678-306-6649. For individuals, please see our full schedule and sign up online.

We are so excited to have you back on our campus! We ask that you please be patient with us as we implement these changes and gear back up to what will be our new normal for the time being. We’re doing our best to balance the needs of our organization with the need to keep you, our clients and our staff as safe as possible.

Thank you for your support and interest in helping our community. We look forward to your commitment of time and energy to help Open Hand Atlanta continue to thrive!

We cook. We deliver. We teach. We CARE!