One in three Dutch food banks short of volunteers, organisation says
The reported shortage centres on specialist roles, despite growth in the volunteer workforce that runs Dutch food banks.
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One in three food banks in the Netherlands cannot find enough volunteers, according to Voedselbanken Nederland. The organisation has launched a recruitment campaign to fill gaps in specialist roles across a network run entirely by volunteers. [1]
It says volunteer numbers have grown in recent years, but food banks still need people who can commit regularly to jobs requiring specific skills, including logistics co-ordination, management, IT and HR. The ANP news agency reports that the Netherlands has 181 food banks and more than 500 distribution points, with over 14,000 volunteers in 2026. [1]
Voedselbanken Nederland says work, study and caring responsibilities make regular volunteering harder to fit in, and that people increasingly seek more flexible roles. [1]
The recruitment campaign is aimed particularly at working people aged 40 to 65, retirees, and people between jobs or in return-to-work programmes. [1]
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