Time out of the office in the FareShare Melbourne kitchen or kitchen garden, is a fantastic investment in culture, relationships and team-building.

Book a corporate volunteering session today

Our Corporate Volunteering Program has re-opened and we have limited shifts available now in our kitchen and kitchen garden.   

For more information about corporate volunteering and to make a booking, please contact Rosemary Kelly at rosemary.kelly@fareshare.net.au. 

Team building with social impact

FareShare offers a unique and meaningful corporate volunteering experience.

Every day we open our high-volume kitchen to half-day shifts (morning, afternoon and Thursday evenings) for colleagues to build relationships and have fun while creating thousands of meals for people in need.

Guided by our experienced chefs, participants roll pastry, bake quiches, crack eggs, cook sausage rolls or vegie rolls and pack meals. They will also learn about food waste, food rescue and food poverty in our city.

FareShare also offers corporate volunteering opportunities at our Abbotsford Kitchen Garden on Friday mornings.

Feedback has been glowing and many corporate volunteers have gone on to become regular volunteers. Importantly, everyone leaves feeling more connected and knowing they have made a direct social impact.

Frequently asked questions

The FareShare kitchen provides the perfect setting for employees to interact with colleagues across departments and levels, while making a tangible difference. It can also be a great way to build relationships with clients. No special skills are required and everyone participates on an equal basis.

Each group of corporate volunteers finish their 3-4 hour shift having made over 1000 nutritious meals for Victorian families and individuals in need.

Participants will also learn about the impact of hunger in our community, and leave with a real understanding of how their efforts have directly helped disadvantaged Australians.

Teams undertake a variety of kitchen tasks such as rolling pastry, cracking eggs, creating sausage rolls and packing meals.

On a typical shift, corporate volunteers cook at least 1000 meals.

Shifts run for 3-4 hours. including a break in the middle. Evening shifts run for approximately 2.5 hours.

1) Morning shifts: 9am-12.30pm (Mon-Fri)
2) Afternoon shifts: 1.15pm-5pm (Mon-Thurs)
3) Evening shifts: 6.15pm to 8:30pm (Thurs)

The maximum shift size is 16. If you bring a smaller crew, we will partner you with another group to boost numbers and ensure meal output.

Our state of the art production kitchen is located at 1-7 South Audley St, Abbotsford.
We recommend you use public transport – the 109 and 12 trams run along Victoria St (you get off at stop 22). The 78 tram on Church St terminates on Victoria St. Or you can catch the train to North Richmond Station (a 10 minute walk). We also have bike racks out the front.
We do not have access to off street parking nearby. There are some 4 hour parks in surrounding streets but they are hard to find. There is parking for a fee available at Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre, which is a 10 minute walk from the FareShare kitchen. Street parking is available in the evenings.

The financial contribution is $1,000 (plus GST) for a half-day experience or $750 (plus GST) for an evening shift.

FareShare does on occasion accept in kind payment for corporate shifts, usually in the form of food, other goods or services, or the provision of skilled volunteers and general expertise. If you feel your organisation has something to offer in this respect, please let us know.
If you have to cancel your shift within 3 weeks of your booking date, we apply a 50% cancellation fee. The reason for this is that it is hard to find another group to take your booking at short notice, and we will therefore drop production if you are unable to come in and support us on the date you booked.

For a kitchen shift we ask volunteers to bring a clean apron, wear comfortable clothing (no sleeveless tops in summer), and runners or sneakers. Shoes must be closed in, flat and comfortable.

Groups are supervised by our friendly chefs and supervisors who will demonstrate the tasks to be undertaken and work with your group. 

Our kitchen shifts are popular and often book out 2-3 months in advance. It is best to book early to secure your preferred dates.

Our Abbotsford Kitchen Garden is open to corporate volunteering on Friday mornings for up to 10 volunteers. Gardening tasks may include weeding, mulching, propagating, planting, harvesting and composting.

A wide range of organisations, including some of Australia’s biggest companies together with smaller businesses and community organisations, book corporate shifts in the FareShare kitchen; many of them on a regular basis.

ENGIE demonstrates its commitment to corporate social responsibility in the FareShare kitchen.

Some of the team building activities

Feedback has been glowing

Many corporate volunteers have gone on to join the FareShare community as regular volunteers.

Importantly, everyone leaves our kitchen feeling more connected with each other and better inspired to act on the big issues of food waste and hunger in our community.

NAB employees have been volunteering with FareShare since 2005. In this time over 3,000 employees have volunteered helping make nutritious meals for those in need. FareShare is a very popular activity with our employees who say volunteering with FareShare is a rewarding and well run volunteering experience.
Renee Bushell
National Australia Bank
Accenture employees thoroughly enjoy volunteering at FareShare to cook hundreds of healthy meals for people in our community, while also seeing a positive impact on our environment by using quality food that would otherwise go to landfill. Congratulations to FareShare on the significant impact you’re having on the community and environment.
Trinity Brown
Accenture Australia
Westpac has formed an enormously valuable relationship with FareShare in recent years. Our staff cherish the opportunity to make a practical contribution to our community at the same time as working together as ‘one team’ across various business divisions. We look forward to participating with FareShare on an ongoing basis.
Michael Waters
Westpac
FareShare runs one of the most professionally organised and run corporate volunteering days in Melbourne. We have referred many corporate teams on to FareShare and have received only excellent feedback from them. It is a very rewarding team day and a great experience for employees looking to give back.
Vanessa Veldman
Volunteering Victoria

More than 250 organisations have already volunteered at FareShare including

  • Accenture
  • Aesop
  • AMP
  • Cargill
  • Citywide
  • Clayton Utz
  • Flybuys
  • Fonterra
  • Jemena
  • NAB
  • Nelson Alexander
  • Pitcher Partners
  • Powercor/Citipower
  • Salesforce
  • RACV
  • Sealed Air
  • Roche
  • Westpac
  • Woolworths

See a Wealth for Life group of volunteers experiencing a FareShare kitchen shift

Book a corporate volunteering session today

Our Corporate Volunteering Program has re-opened and we have limited shifts available now in our kitchen and kitchen garden.   

For more information about corporate volunteering and to make a booking, please contact Rosemary Kelly at rosemary.kelly@fareshare.net.au.