The Neighborhood Table has a volunteer opportunity to assist in obtaining food for our community meal program from Feeding America of Eastern Wisconsin in Omro. By obtaining food from Feeding America, the food costs for our meal sponsors are kept to a minimum, reducing the financial burden on our sponsors. There are a number of responsibilities that could be split into multiple volunteer opportunties as needed:
Review Feeding America Online Inventory
The first responsibility is to review the on-line available inventory of the Feeding America site looking for items that would be suitable for use in our community meal program which serves about 400 meals per meal. Familiarity with the types and amounts of food our program uses or for large groups would be helpful as well as some familiarity with computers. Coordination with Feeding America ordering rules, logistics for delivery, volunteer pick-up people, storage space availability to insure proper food handling practices and communication of inventory to our meal coordinators is necessary.
We need volunteers who are free at these times: Weekly
Food Pickup and Delivery
The second responsibility deals with the pick-up of the ordered items from Feeding American at the Omro, Wisconsin, location (approximately 75 miles from Wis. Rapids) during their hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Monday through Friday), or from the once-per-month drop-off shipment in Mosinee, Wisconsin, on the first Thursday of the month. A team of volunteers could be formed to do the pick-ups from Feeding America and delivering the items to our meal site. Access to a vehicle to transport larger quantities of food is needed; travel is about 75 miles one way.
We need volunteers who are free at these times: Occasional
Inventory and Store Food Items
The third responsibility involves inventorying the delivered items and assisting with moving them to our storage areas. Ability to climb stairs while carrying boxes of food is a requirement. This is typically done during the afternoon hours on the days deliveries are made.
We need volunteers who are free at these times: Occasional
Food and Supplies Inventory Record
The fourth responsibility calls for maintaining a record of our food and supplies inventory. This would involve coordination between Feeding America food procurement volunteers, our Reinhart food purchaser and the meal coordinators. Updated inventory lists are sent weekly to a predetermined list of involved volunteers. Maintaining adequate supply levels is important to prevent stock-outs of critical items for our meal program. Good computer skills are required with familiarity with Microsoft Office products and email.
These volunteer opportunities are available to those who are age 18 or older.
Contact: Bonnie Lewis
Bakery Pickup Team
The Neighborhood Table has a volunteer opportunity to build a team of people willing to pick up bakery items from the West Grand IGA grocery store and to drop them off at our meal site at the United Methodist Church, 441 Garfield Street, Wisconsin Rapids. We currently pick up 20 to 35 bakery items, primarily bread and buns with some assorted desserts each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday after 9 a.m. each day and before noon each day. After delivery to the UMC, the team would sort the bakery items for either serving at our meals (on every Thursday and the last two Tuesdays of the month) or for distribution to our guests at the next meal. Assistance is also needed to distribute the bakery items to our guests from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on meal days.
Volunteers must have access to a vehicle to transport bakery items to our meal site.
We need volunteers who are free at these times: Tuesday, Wednesday and/or Thursday mornings
This volunteer opportunity is available to those who are age 18 or older.
Contact: Bonnie Lewis
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