Food Pantry Associate

About the role

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.

Responsibilities

• 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.
• Maintains supplies (i.e. scissors, pens, etc.) and forms (i.e. volunteer sign-in sheets, food donation sheet, etc.) and ensures they are consistently stocked.
• Maintains the Food Pantry clean and attractive.
• Supports volunteers including task assignment, problem-solving, conflict resolution, and communications.
• Affords support to volunteers by assisting with coordinating individual, group, and annual community-wide food drives.
• Affords support to volunteers by assisting in arranging for donations to be picked up from different donor partners, as needed.
• Affords support to volunteers by assisting in logging freezer/refrigerator temperatures weekly per USDA guidelines, as needed.
• Affords support to volunteers by assisting in cultivating relationships with community stakeholders including other food pantries, grocery stores, community groups, and other partners.
• Affords support to volunteers by assisting in identifying initiatives to continually improve the Food Pantry.
• Affords support to volunteers by ensuring 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.
• Affords support to the Volunteer Engagement Team to leverage volunteer participation to deliver our mission and steward our resources.
• Affords support to other GoochlandCares programs to get clients the care they need.
• Affords support to 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.
• 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 GoochlandCares.
• Ability to cultivate and maintain relationships with community partners to contribute to the mission of GoochlandCares.
• 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.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office.
• Basic computer skills required.
• Willing to get ServSafe 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 periods throughout the day.
• Must be able to lift items from floor level to chest height, place items on shelving, and frequently bend, stoop, kneel, squat, and reach while stocking and organizing inventory.
• Prolonged periods of sitting, standing, talking, driving, typing, lifting, and operating equipment like vans.
• Frequent exposure to varying inclement outdoor weather conditions.

Benefits

• PTO
• Health benefits
• Short-term disability
• Employee Assistance Program
• Retailer benefits
• GoochlandCares is an Equal Opportunity Employer that does not discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race, gender, creed, color, religion, ethnic origin, alienage or national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, disability or handicap, sex, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic information, arrest record, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws.