FAQs

You can sign up at this link or reach out to Alisa Rasera-Holden, the Shelter Meal Coordinator, at frolikdance@gmail.com for info and the newsletter for volunteers. In some cases, everything might have been signed up for so far, but you can always check in with our coordinator to see if there’s anything you can donate, or check to see if someone couldn’t bring their meal just in case there’s a way for you to help.

It is what you make it! Some groups have been doing this since 2018 or earlier and some people have only started this year. Either is okay! You can sign up for one night only, or you can continue to sign up and help the shelter. It is definitely not a long-term commitment unless you want it to be!

Your food (in a disposable container such as an aluminum tray), to-go containers, and yourself! All utensils (serving and eating) and plates are provided, but to-go containers are always needed. If you have leftover containers, feel free to leave them at the shelter for future dates. You may want to bring water for yourself if you get thirsty, but that is about it.

Food is served at 6:45, but you should arrive at 6:30 to do final food preparations. Refer to the timeline for more information.

Usually volunteers stay for around an hour to actively serve food, and then leave the rest of the food there, somewhat packed up, for guests to get themselves more if they want. There should also be some time accounted for cleaning up after serving food, but volunteers never stay longer than two hours.

There are usually around 20 guests per night. We want to have enough food to serve all of them and have lots left over, so don’t feel scared to bring more food. This number can vary depending on the night, but 20 is the average.

This is a list detailing everything so it’s easy to understand. Check the dinner section if you need more information:

• A main entree that serves 16-20 people total

• A vegetarian entree that serves 8-10 people total

• A veggie side dish that serves 16-20 people total

• A salad that serves 16-20 people total

• Some sort of starch/bread rolls that serves 16-20 people total

• Dessert that serves 16-20 people total

• Drinks (not soda or alcohol! Juice or sparkling water is recommended)

• 20 to-go breakfast bags for the next morning

We have lots of easy meals in our recipe section. The best kinds of meals are ones that are easy to serve to many people and aren't too complex. We want our meals to be nutritious and delicious so our guests can enjoy them. Things like chicken or casseroles are great. If you’re not able to cook a meal you can always purchase a frozen lasagna and heat it up, or something else of that nature.

Yes! We need at least one vegetarian entree and some vegetarian side dishes. See more specifics in our dinner section. If you are able, labeling every dish with its ingredients can also help people with special diets.

We love having homemade food at the shelter, but if you’re not able to cook, that’s perfectly fine! Any sort of big frozen meal can be purchased and heated (such as lasagna), and you could always buy pizza if you really wanted to.

Usually serving takes around an hour, since guests come to get food and we let them come back for more if they want it, so at around 7:45 or 8 pm is when clean up should start. Clean up includes packing up all of the food into trays or any other serving dishes (if you used dishes from home, you must transfer your food into a dish that can stay at the shelter). Once the food is packed up and the utensils are left with it, depending on how much is left, some can go in the fridge and some can be left on the table. If you’re unsure, check in with the onsite managers! To-go containers (brought by you) should also be left out for guests to use later. Once the food is packed up, the tables the food was on should be cleared off and cleaned, leaving tablecloths in a stack. After all of that, the dishes from the shelter that were used should be washed if there is a sink/dishwasher available. Guests use compostable plates and utensils, so you will not need to wash their dishes. After that, you’re done! Thanks so much for all of your help at the shelter!

Call Alisa Rasera-Holden, the Shelter Meal Coordinator, at (510) 381-5483 if there’s any sort of problem when you get there that can’t be solved by a manager working at the location We never want volunteering to be stressful, so if there’s a problem, please let someone know!

It’s okay! If you’ve been made aware of this a couple days before your night, the first step is to see if anyone else is able to make a dish instead. If you can’t find anyone, the next step is to purchase something like a frozen lasagna and heat that up as your entree instead. If there’s some reason you can’t do that either, contact Alisa Rasera-Holden, our Shelter Meal Coordinator, at frolikdance@gmail.com or (510) 381-5483 as soon as possible so that she can be alerted. If there is ever a dire situation, she or someone in your group can always order a pizza, but that’s the last option. Just keep calm and make sure everyone stays informed if this happens.

The first person to reach out to is Alisa Rasera-Holden, the Shelter Meal Coordinator, at frolikdance@gmail.com or (510) 381-5483 and let her know. If you’re in a group and other people are bringing other dishes (and they haven’t been exposed to or tested positive for COVID), see if someone else can make and bring the dish you were planning to make, or a similar one. However the most important thing to do is not to infect anybody, so we can always figure out a solution.

There are lots of ways! If you need to, you can always heat up something like a frozen lasagna in your oven, but that’s probably not the first choice. There are lots of smaller and less complex recipes you can do, which you can find in our recipe section. Or you can buy and bring something like Hawaiian rolls, as those don’t require cooking or prep at your house. Any contribution you can make is welcome, so anything you can do is important and valued. Thanks for your help!

If you can’t/don’t want to do anything associated with food, the first step is reaching out to Alisa Rasera-Holden, the Shelter Meal Coordinator, at frolikdance@gmail.com or (510) 381-5483. You can ask what is needed for the shelter (donations such as plates, utensils, blankets, and any other products). There is always a need for monetary donations of any amount so that managers of the shelter can buy things, and sometimes there might be a need for sanitary products if/when there are showers occurring at the shelter.

No! Although the shelter is held at churches and is associated with a church, it is not a religious organization. You do not need to attend the church to volunteer. Many of the shelter organizers and managers do attend Christ Episcopal Church, but again, it is never required.

The shelter is associated with Episcopal Community Services, also known as ECS, who run the shelter! The City of Alameda is a fiscal partner to the warming shelter. Other community organizations such as Alameda Family Services and the Village of Love assist with daytime resource and services navigation.

Alisa Rasera-Holden, the Shelter Meal Coordinator, at frolikdance@gmail.com is happy to sign off on any volunteer hours you did at the shelter! The best way for her to sign off on these is on an electronic form (if you have one), and contact her by email to get it signed. If you only have a physical paper that can be signed, email her to set up a time to go by her house to get her to sign your paper. If you need your volunteer hours signed off by a certain time or date, please don’t wait until right before that time to contact our coordinator. Make sure you have some buffer time, and contact her soon after your night at the warming shelter!

Yes and no! We love for this to be a multi generational opportunity. However due to safety concerns, children, especially young ones, can be loud and disruptive, which can be annoying and/or frustrating to our guests. However, if you have kids that are actually serving food and being volunteers, it’s different. We’ve had young Girl Scout volunteers who serve food as well as any adult. Any children under five years of age are not allowed and anyone under eighteen must be supervised.