Food Pantry Associate

Description

The Food Pantry Associate supports the Food Pantry Manager by coordinating day-to-day operations during assigned shifts to ensure efficient, safe, and client-centered service delivery. This role focuses on pantry operations, supporting volunteers, maintaining inventory flow, and ensuring food safety and quality standards are consistently met.

Essential Job Functions

• Ensures clients receive Food Pantry services by following trauma-informed practices that promote the dignity and respect of all clients, volunteers, staff, and donors.
• Ensures the Food Pantry is stocked and organized daily.
• Ensures that supplies (i.e. scissors, pens, etc.) and forms (i.e. volunteer sign-in sheets, food donation sheet, etc.) are maintained and consistently stocked.
• Ensures Food Pantry is clean and attractive.
• Supports volunteers including task assignment, problem-solving, conflict resolution, and communications.
• Assists with coordinating individual, group, and annual community-wide food drives.
• Assists in arranging for donations to be picked up from different donor partners, as needed.
• Assists with logging freezer/refrigerator temperatures weekly per USDA guidelines, as needed.
• Assists in cultivating relationships with community stakeholders including other food pantries, grocery stores, community groups, and other partners.
• Assists in identifying initiatives to continually improve the Food Pantry.
• Ensures that donors are thanked when food donations are received in the Food Pantry, donations are weighed, and information is recorded accurately on the food donation sheets.
• Supports the Volunteer Engagement Team to leverage volunteer participation to deliver our mission and steward our resources.
• Collaborates with other Goochland Cares programs to get clients the care they need.
• Collaborates with the Development Department to collect stories and photos from clients, staff, and volunteers to promote the mission of the organization.
• Completes other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bilingual (English-Spanish) is preferred.
• 1 year of experience in the food security sector preferred.
• Experience working with and/or leading volunteers is a plus but not required.
• Nonprofit experience is a plus but is not required.
• Ability to work occasional Tuesday evenings until 7:15 PM, and occasional Wednesday mornings starting at 7:30am
• Strong interpersonal communication and collaboration skills displaying a caring, tactful, diplomatic, and respectful attitude towards staff, volunteers, and clients.
• Ability to provide care using a trauma-informed-care approach and DEIB approach.
• Experience working in an ever-changing work environment is required.
• Ability to multi-task, have a strong attention to detail, and manage different priorities.
• Ability to be proactive in problem solving food-related matters.
• Ability to identify self-limitations regarding skills and knowledge and willingness to seek assistance to ensure patient safety and optimize quality of care.
• Commitment to the mission of Goochland Cares.
• Ability to cultivate and maintain relationships with community partners to contribute to the mission of Goochland Cares.
• Understand that all employees participate in engaging volunteers to help fulfill our mission.
• Ability to provide and maintain a valid Virginia driver’s license in good standing.

Technical

Skills:

• Proficient with Microsoft Office.
• Basic computer skills required.
• Willing to get Serv Safe certification, and other food-service-related trainings/certifications.
• Willing to learn new software programs.

Physical Requirements and Environmental Conditions:

• Ability to frequently lift and move items weighing up to 50 pounds. Position requires periodic high-volume material handling, including moving multiple 50-pound boxes during concentrated work…