Special Event Details

Potluck in the Park Christmas Dinner 2023

Dates: 12/23/2023 - 12/24/2023

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Potluck in the Park
at the Portland Art Museum

Invites you to volunteer at our 29th Annual Christmas Dinner!

Potluck in the Park and the Portland Art Museum will be hosting a special free Christmas Eve dinner at the Portland Art Museum in the Fred and Suzanne Fields Ballroom. Since Christmas is on Monday, Christmas Dinner will be served on Christmas Eve, Sunday, December 24th, NOT Christmas Day. This will replace Potluck’s regular weekly meal in the North Park Blocks.

We will be doing everything we can to keep this event as safe as possible. PLEASE make sure you are comfortable with our COVID policy before signing up.

To make it a success, we need YOU!

There's plenty to be done, both on prep day (Saturday, December 23rd) and the day of the meal itself, the 24th! We have divided the work into shifts - each of which has its own requirements, sign up, start time, and duration. They are ALL based at the Portland Art Museum (exact location details will be emailed to you after you sign up for a shift).

Please read everything below carefully BEFORE signing up for a shift.

COVID POLICY: While we encourage all volunteers be vaccinated, we won’t require it this year. Masks will be optional, unless there is a large increase in COVID cases, wherein we reserve the right to require masking.

How to volunteer:

Since this is such a large event, tasks for both days (Dec 23rd and 24th) have been broken up into a number of shifts. Apart from those volunteering for Transportation, you will not know exactly what tasks will be assigned to you during your chosen shift until you arrive for check in.

For instance, during the Meal Service shift on Christmas Eve, your tasks may include:

Serving food to our guests
Food preparation
Greeting guests and monitoring traffic flow
Assisting our guests with disabilities
Bussing tables and cleanup
and more... the list is a long one!

Important info for Youth & Teams...

Each volunteer must sign up individually.

There is no team sign up option for this event.

Any volunteer under age 14 must attend with a parent or adult chaperone.

We welcome all volunteers, but request that every volunteer under 18 years of age have a parent or guardian fill out a Youth Waiver Form (click here to download) and bring it with them when they attend their shift.

Volunteers under 14 should be accompanied by an adult, and children under 12 should stay with 'their adult' throughout their shift

If you are looking to register youth age 12 and under, email Hands On, handson@unitedway-pdx.org and we will place a "guest volunteer" underneath the registration of the adult.

Important:

ALL volunteers must be registered in advance for this event.

Please only signup for a shift if you can attend for the entire time.

No walk-up registration will be allowed.

Please do not bring additional friends or family members unless they are registered. We will not have room for them. The experience is diminished for everyone if we accept more volunteers than we have tasks for.

There is no waitlist for this event. If the volunteer opportunity you would like is not available, please check back often to see if there have been cancellations--there always are! Please do not email asking if there are spots available; you will be redirected to look at the registration pages.

When you arrive...

Please be on time, but not too early, about 10 minutes before your shift starts.

Please bring warm clothing and dress for the weather, as you may be asked to work part of your shift outside - though most outside areas will be covered. Coat check facilities will be available to store extra items during your shift. You will get a coat check ticket if you leave anything - don't lose it!

Sign up below...

Please sign-up for only ONE shift over the two days. If you sign up for more than one shift, you will be asked to remove yourself from one of them.

This event is one of the most popular happening in Portland around the holidays, and we want as many folks as possible to have the opportunity to help over the two days.

Once you've signed up, if for any reason you can't be with us as expected, please make sure you log into your Hands On volunteer account and remove yourself.

After you have signed up, you will receive a confirmation email with a link to the Potluck In The Park page, which will give you full details of the location, timing, parking, and extra instructions!

Preparation Day - Saturday, December 23rd

Help us prepare for the big meal! Choose ONE shift only.
Click the links below for more information and to sign up:

PREP DAY SET UP (all ages) FULL
9:30am – Noon

PREP DAY DECORATING (all ages) FULL
Noon – 3:00pm

PREP DAY FINAL TOUCHES (all ages) FULL
3:00pm – 5:00pm

Meal Day - Sunday, December 24th

Help us during the big meal! Choose ONE shift only.
Click the links below for more information and to sign up:

REGISTRATION/GENERAL PREP (all ages) FULL
9:30am – 12:00pm

GUEST TRANSPORTATION (age 18+)
11:00am – 3:30pm
*Must use your own insured vehicle*

MEAL SERVICE (all ages) FULL
11:00am – 3:00pm

TEAR DOWN CREW (all ages)
3:00pm – 5:30pm

FINAL CLEAN-UP TEAM (ages 8+) FULL
5:30pm – 8:00pm

Thank you very much for reading this - all of us here at Hands On and Potluck in the Park thank you for volunteering throughout the year!

Finally: Baked Goods Needed!

If the shift you wanted is full or if you would like to help additionally, please consider donating baked goods for our Christmas Dinner. CLICK HERE to find out more about how you can help.

Thank you very much for reading this - all of us here at Hands On and Potluck in the Park thank you for volunteering throughout the year!

Potluck in the Park serves more than 20,000 hot meals every year. Consider donating to Potluck in the Park and supporting this important work! Visit www.potluckinthepark.org/donate-now/ to learn more and contribute.

NOTE: If you experience technical issues with your volunteer account or password, contact us at handson@unitedway-pdx.org or call 503.200.3355.

Special Event Details

Potluck in the Park Christmas Dinner 2023

Potluck in the Park at the Portland Art Museum