Opportunities From: HandsOn Twin Cities

The White Bear Area Food Shelf is looking for volunteers to assist with the setup and distribution of our daily Community Market for neighbors to have an in-person shopping experience.  There are 4 different volunteer opportunities:

Contact Carol at carol@whitebearfoodshelf.org or 651-433-7286 to signup or for more information.

Soup For You, a community soup café located in Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, is looking for welcoming, friendly, compassionate people to assist with food preparation, dining room preparation and serving our guests a hearty lunch. Opportunities are available any day M-F between the hours of 10:30am – 2pm. Visit https://soupforyou.info/volunteer for more information. Join us as we fulfill our mission of “feed, nourish and comfort”!

SACA's thrift store provides clothing and household essentials at an affordable price to the community. SACA’s thrift store is 100% run by volunteers, which means that 100% of thrift store purchases go towards feeding the community.

Duties/Responsibilities:
* Assist customers by offering quality customer service
* Financial controls; handling money and processing cash and card transactions
* Stock new product
* Maintain the store's physical appearance
* Sort through donations to verify that items received are good condition
* Give receipts to and collect information from people donating products

Qualifications/Requirements:
* Good customer service skills
* Ability to do basic arithmetic and perform sales transactions
* Some light to moderate lifting
* Ability to stand and bend
* Some stocking experience helpful but not necessary
* Ability to respect and maintain personal boundaries and client confidentiality
* Spanish speaking ability is helpful but not required

Take a tour of the community in SACA’s 14’ Box Truck while you pick up and deliver food rescue from our store partners (Cub, Target, Trader Joes and more). Ideally you would be able to lift 40 pounds. We have shifts available Monday - Thursday 6:00am to 10:30am.

Duties:

Food insecurity is a crisis in our community and it has been accelerated by cost of living increases. An incredible 1 in 8 of our neighbors are in danger of going hungry. SACA needs weekly volunteers to help support our neighbors who depend on these services. Your dedication of time means the world to us and to the people we serve. We are in need of weekly volunteers Monday to Thursday who can commit to 2-4 hours to help in the food market, warehouse, thrift story and intake.

SACA Food Shelf gives out groceries to residents who face food insecurity and who need help stretching their tight food budgets at home. Food is distributed weekly Monday 9am-4:00pm, Tuesday 8am - 4:00pm, Wednesday 10am - 6:00pm and Thursday 8am - 3:00pm.

Food market volunteers provide basic support services, including stocking shelves and helping clients shop for food, clean up, and other tasks required for service. Volunteers may assist one day or make a regular commitment depending on their schedule. Special opportunities for translation are needed, especially for Spanish speakers.

Duties/Responsibilities:
● Help stock pantry shelves
● Help clients shop in the food market
● At times, prepare food boxes for distribution to clients
● Maintains inventory
● Assists with welcoming and sign-in food pantry clients
● Monitors area to maintain order and a clean and safe environment
● Assists with cleaning and organizing

Qualifications/Requirements:
● Customer service orientation
● Some light to moderate lifting, although not necessary for all roles
● Ability to stand and bend
● Some stocking experience helpful but not necessary
● Ability to respect and maintain personal boundaries and client confidentiality

Food Shelf Aide

Come help our neighbors with their food needs! We are looking for 4-6 volunteers per weekly shift, Monday through Thursday, 8:30am-12:30pm and 12:30pm-4:30pm to work with our food shelf staff. Volunteers must be 18 years old or older. We ask volunteers to commit to a 4-hour-a-week shift for a minimum of two months.

All volunteers must be pre-registered with a volunteer application https://www.volgistics.com/ex/portal.dll/ap?AP=335122860&OR=1 and be scheduled through Sally Newbury at snewbury@npimn.org. People of color and/or bilingual language talents are strongly encouraged to apply.

Youth who are 14, 15, 16 and 17 years old can volunteer with us with some of our public events and with our food shelf. We require prior parental written permission that applicant will receive after completing the volunteer application. The 14 and 15 year old youth can volunteer when accompanied by their parent or guardian. The 16 and 17 year old youth can volunteer by themselves with our Food Shelf.

Forms to review/sign prior to volunteering at NorthPoint will be sent to you once your application is received and include: 1) Volunteer Requirements and 2) Civil Rights Checklist

Please take all necessary precautions if you are health compromised or caring for someone with compromised health. We ask you NOT to volunteer if you or anyone in your household ill or has tested positive for the coronavirus. 

Volunteers must consider this self-assessment:

Please do not volunteer if you are sick or experiencing any of the following symptoms:

* Fever

* Cough

* Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

* Chills

* Headache

* Muscle pain

* Sore throat

* New loss of taste or smell

This list is subject to change to reflect the current public health recommendations. For more information, see the Minnesota Department of Health website: https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/index.html

Face coverings

All staff and volunteers are encouraged to wear face coverings that cover both mouth and nose and are secure with ear loops. NorthPoint will provide disposable masks and gloves during yours shift.

Assignments

Volunteers will be assigned to packing boxes of dry food, bagging produce, receiving and stocking donations and purchased food deliveries. NorthPoint staff will have direct contact with customers (not volunteers) to register and receive food.

When you arrive for your shift, please use the back door of the Food Shelf to enter and wash your hands in the breakroom or bathroom. Please sign in to utilizing the kiosk in the hydration room to record your time in and please remember to sign out at the end of your shift too. Report to the Food Shelf staff for your assignment.

How to Dress and What to Bring

Please wear closed-toe shoes to protect your feet from boxes and pallets. No sandals please. Please dress modestly with shorts that come to the knee or long pants and short or long sleeves. We ask volunteers to come with their own cloth-mask on their face and you may swap it for a NorthPoint disposable mask once you arrive. There will be bottled drinking water on site but you are also encouraged to bring your own reusable water bottle. Hand sanitizer will be available throughout the site.

Directions and Parking

The NorthPoint Health Food Shelf is located at 1835 Penn Avenue North in Minneapolis on the corner of Penn and Golden Valley Road. Please use on-street parking for your vehicle. We save the parking lot on the south side of the building for customers.

Any questions, please contact Jamiela Taylor at jtaylor@npimn.org or 612-767-0324 text/call.