Seasonal Gleaning Coordinator

Seasonal Gleaning Coordinator

Upper Valley MEND strives to meet each need with dignity. We envision an empowered community with equitable access to food, housing, wellness, and economic security.

The gleaning program harvests surplus produce from farms, orchards, backyard gardens, and farmers markets. Gleaning is a program of the Community Cupboard, Upper Valley MEND’s food pantry. The food pantry is focused on providing nutritious and culturally significant foods to the families and individuals we serve. Gleaning helps to provide an array of produce during the growing season.

The Gleaning Coordinator position is a full-time seasonal role. This position coordinates every aspect of the gleaning program and can include working with growers to plan gleaning events, recruiting and managing volunteers, running and participating in gleans, reporting gleaning data, creating the gleaning newsletter, and distributing produce to the Community Cupboard.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:

Gleaning

• Build and maintain relationships with donors, volunteers, and community partners.
• Schedule gleaning events and coordinate volunteers for gleans during harvest season.
• Host gleans, including leading volunteers and transporting gleaned crops to donation or storage sites.
• Keep accurate records of seasonal activities, utilizing the Salesforce database program.

Assist Food Programs Manager in managing Farm to Food Pantry purchasing contracts with local farms.

Outreach and communication

• Assist Food Programs Manager with gleaning program flyers, Facebook and Instagram pages, email newsletters, and website.
• Set up outreach tabling at the Leavenworth farmers markets and other local events as appropriate.

Supervise gleaning-related seasonal volunteers, including AmeriCorps volunteer and/or Ingalls Creek Enrichment Center Fellow. (Supervision dependent on whether placements of these volunteers are awarded.)

QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum Qualifications Include:

• An interest in food security work, local agriculture, and reducing food waste.
• Physical capability of activities such as extended periods of standing, walking on uneven surfaces, bending, climbing ladders, lifting boxes (up to 60lbs), picking fruits and harvesting vegetables, and exposure to heat and cold temperatures. Please note that this job is often strenuous, at least 50% of work time is labor.
• Comfortable with and interested in working with diverse populations. Self-motivated, able to manage and prioritize multiple tasks.
• Ability to work independently and with a team, including leading and supervising volunteers.
• Flexible schedule, this position includes some evening and weekend work.
• Comfortable working in a variety of settings including outdoors in a variety of conditions, indoors in an office, and in a fast-paced food pantry.
• Competence using Microsoft Office programs, web-based databases, and social media sites.
• Clean driving record and comfortable driving a cargo van

Preferred Qualifications include:

• Ability to speak Spanish
• Agricultural experience

For full job description visit https://www.uvmend.org/employment.

Please email resume, cover letter, and three references to Food Programs Manager at Rachel@uvmend.org

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $20.00 per hour

Expected hours: 40 per week

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Employee discount
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift

Work Location: In person