Serve a Weekly *Lunchtime* Meal at Blanchet House this Fall Term (PSU Serve Your City Series)

Join fellow PSU students this Fall Term in helping prep and serve lunch at Blanchet House! The Student Community Engagement Center is excited to support the work of Blanchet House through this Serve Your City *Series* opportunity, where students will commit to a regular weekly shift throughout the term. 

The mission of Blanchet House of Hospitality is to offer food, shelter and aid to all those in need of a safe place to be nourished and restored. Blanchet House of Hospitality serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner to anyone in need of a free meal at their Old Town Portland location.

When you volunteer at Blanchet House you will help prepare, plate, and serve meals and drinks in addition to other tasks related to the meal service. Volunteers arrive half an hour before the meal begins to get oriented to Blanchet House and be assigned tasks.

Meal service lasts approximately one hour, after which volunteers are invited to stay and eat with the rest of the volunteers, staff, and residents who live at Blanchet House. Masks are to be worn at all times except during designated time to eat together after the shift. 

Time & Commitment Required: PSU volunteers will commit to volunteering weekly for a Saturday lunchtime shift at Blanchet House. Commitment to the weekly series is required!

• Weekly volunteer shifts begin Saturday, October 18th and go through the end on Saturday, November 22nd (11:00am - 1:00pm) -- SIX SHIFTS TOTAL!
• Orientation & training will take place during your first shift, and will require arriving 30 minutes early that day (by 10:30am).
• Volunteers will have the option to meet together at the PSU campus around 10:30am (or 10am on day 1) to take the MAX together from campus for weekly shifts. 
• Team members will be invited to stay after the shift to share a meal together and connect, debrief how things are going, and dig into deeper discussion about the many intersecting layers of houselessness. 
• Volunteers are asked to commit to missing no more than one shift during Fall term and communicating in advance if you do need to miss a day.

Where: This recurring project takes place at Blanchet House, located in Old Town at 310 NW Glisan St, Portland, OR 97209. 

Orientation/Training/Resources provided or required: 

• Blanchet House volunteers will provide an initial orientation session for volunteers to ground them 

• PSU volunteers are encouraged to stay after each shift to connect, debrief, and enjoy the shared meal with other volunteers and the Blanchet house crew.

Requirements:

• Enrolled PSU student during Fall term 2025

• Consistency; volunteers are asked to commit to missing no more than two shifts during the term.

• Strong interpersonal skills and are comfortable working with people

• This is an in-person volunteer opportunity.
  
  
• All new Blanchet House volunteers will be required to review the Blanchet House volunteer handbook and complete the Volunteer Application prior to your first shift, so that you are in their system. You will be sent further details once you apply to join a PSU Blanchet House shift here on GivePulse. 

Applications are open on a rolling basis until all slots are filled, whichever is sooner! Please apply by October 14th so you'll have time to complete the required pre-volunteering application.

For more information or questions, please email volunteer@pdx.edu

---