In-Person Volunteer Description Guide
Contents:
- Food Pantry Prep Days
- Food Pantry Sunday
- Food Pantry Prep
- Personal care prep
- Pet food prep
- Checking clients in
- Pantry Programs (food, pet food, personal care)
- Doordash deliveries
- Van deliveries
III. Miami Valley Meals Pickup
- Thursday Food Bank Delivery
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Food Pantry Prep Days
Welcome to Food Pantry Prep Days! On Food Pantry Prep Days, we put shelf stable food items into bags so they are ready to go out for delivery or for client pickup on Food Pantry Sunday. Because we have volunteers putting bags together ahead of time, we are able to have short to no wait times. This is unlike many food pantries where wait times can be multiple hours long. As we generally serve 85-90 families a week, it is important to have the bags ready to go.
Food Pantry Prep Days are regularly scheduled on Saturdays from 11am-1pm. Check the Point app for events and to sign up! We meet at Have A Gay Day (1902 Needmore Rd, Dayton, Ohio).
While it is not an exact science, we do have guidelines on how to fill the bags.
Step 1: From the box, grab 4-6 bags to fill. Six is usually the most that will fit comfortably on a cart.
Step 2: Go around the room putting items in the bag. Generally, put in one of each item. Some exceptions are for mac’n’cheese and tuna – generally two of these items are placed in each bag. If there are other small items (such as single serving chips), two may go in as well.
Step 3: Once all items are in, wheel cart next to the shelves. Place bags on any open shelf. Usually, five to six will fit side by side and they can be placed two deep.
Please break down boxes and place in the large container. Plastics go in the trash can near the door to outside. Broken down boxes can also be taken outside to the dumpster. This does not have to be done to completion, but it is helpful to have at least most of it done.
Other notes:
- Please take breaks and take care of yourself! There are drinks and snacks available. These are located in the meeting room – drinks in the fridge, snacks on the counter.
- You are welcome to bring a speaker to play music.
- There are large fans in the food storage area – feel free to turn these on. There is a low setting and a Madonna setting.
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Food Pantry Sunday
What: On Food Pantry Sunday, we serve community members by giving out food, pet food, and personal care items through the Food Pantry, Pet Food Pantry, and Personal Care Items programs. Because we have volunteers putting bags together ahead of time, we are able to have short to no wait times. This is unlike many food pantries where wait times can be multiple hours long. We serve around 85-90 families a week, which translates to around 250-300 people.
Food Pantry Sunday hours are regularly scheduled on Sundays 9:30AM-12PM and 1:30-4PM for volunteers. Check the Point app for events and to sign up! We meet at Have A Gay Day (1902 Needmore Rd, Dayton, Ohio).
What we do on Sundays:
- Food Pantry Prep
- Personal care prep
- Pet food prep
- Checking clients in
- Pantry Programs (food, pet food, personal care)
- Doordash deliveries
- Van deliveries
- Food Pantry Prep:
Shelf stable food bags: We try to get these bags made ahead of time on the Food Pantry Prep Days, but with so many clients it is necessary to make a few more on Sundays. Please refer to Food Pantry Prep Days guidelines.
Cold bags: The items in these bags are perishables, either refrigerated or frozen items. What we receive varies and can sometimes be quite random. Items that we may or may not have in stock include cheese, milk, eggs, and various types of frozen meat. The frozen Miami Valley meals are also included in these bags. Following are the guidelines for amount:
Cheese – 1 of each variety (2 max) per household
Milk – 1 jug per household
Eggs – 1 carton per houshold
Meat – 2-4 items per household. There is also varying size of items – if there are very large items, we try to give those out to larger households. Items have included hot dogs, pulled pork, sausage, 1 lb ground beef, bacon, burger patties, chicken.
Miami Valley Meals – 1 per person in household. For larger households, there may be larger pans available (1 larger pan per household).
Other cold items – occasionally we receive other items such as frozen fruit, oven-bake meals, and vegetarian “meat”.
Always give the full amount to clients – it is first come, first served. We may run out but we will give the full amount until we do.
- Personal care prep:
When we have personal care items available, we give them out to those who would like them. Each household receives one personal care bag. Items that have been available include soap, shampoo, conditioner, pads, tampons, combs, nail clippers, hand sanitizer, deodorant, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. We run out very quickly so most items are not usually available. Occasionally, we have cleaning supplies such as laundry and dish detergent, cleaning spray, and wipes available.
In general, we place one item per bag with two exceptions: 1) in the case of travel size items – 2-4 travel size soaps, shampoos, and conditioners per bag when available; 2) Pads and tampons – generally 4-6 each per household.
- Pet food prep:
Pet food is available first-come, first-served to anyone who expresses a need. The Pet Food Pantry is entirely donation-driven and there may be times that we will not have enough donations to meet needs. We keep track of visits to the Pet Food Pantry through PantryTrak and ask that visits occur only once per calendar month.
For canned pet food, we give out 6 items per pet with a max of 12 items per household per visit.
For other pet food, we give out 6 items per pet with a max of 12 items per household per visit.
If the pet food being given is over 2 pounds in weight only one item will be given per pet type per house.
If any treats, toys, litter, etc. are available, one item per household per visit will be given.
The pet food is located on the shelves in the meeting room and put into the small bright green bags.
- Checking clients in:
When clients come in, we put their information in the system and log their visit. We use PantryTrak to keep track of clients. Generally, clients are required to show drivers license and a utility bill for proof of address.
Whether a new or existing client, we search for their name in the system. If their name is not in the system, we create a new registration, putting in name, address, age/DOB/placeholder, gender, and household size. If an existing client, we check that they are at the same address and have the same household size, and update if not. Clients are allowed to visit once a month. Currently, we do have emergency bags that we can give if they have already visited during the calendar month.
We ask to see drivers license and a utility bill for proof of address, but will work with clients who cannot provide them in one of two ways: 1) if they are already in the system, we can log their visit and 2) if they cannot provide the documents and are not in the system, we can potentially give them an emergency bag.
Following are the income guidelines from the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services:
Following is the PantryTrak “add new client” screen:
Next, on the Have A Gay Day note sheets, write client name, household size, number of pets, and if personal care is wanted. We try to remember to ask about allergies/foods not wanted – however, some families will take these items anyway for others they know who will want them.
- Pantry Programs (food, pet food, personal care)
The number of bags given depends on household size. Each household gets one shelf stable bag per two people. A household size of 1-2 gets 1 bag, a household size of 3-4 gets 2 bags, and so on.
- Doordash deliveries:
- Reading entries on spreadsheet
On the spreadsheet, client’s names, addresses, household size, pet info, etc are listed. Important information to look for: household size; type and number of pets; items specially requested; items not wanted. If it says, for example, “1 pet,” we do not give out pet food because we do not know what kind of pet food to give.
- Copy info to doordash.
Copy columns E-L on the “SIGNUP LIST FOR DELIVERIES” spreadsheet into the doordash “DOORDASH UPLOAD FORM” spreadsheet columns G-N . For each bag, copy and paste once. For example, a household of one will have two entries: 1 shelf stable bag, 1 cold bag. A household of five will have four entries: 3 stable bags, 1 cold bag. After this, copy any special delivery instructions from column “M” over to column “P”.
- Printing labels.
After copying info to doordash, we edit the info on the label (“). First, type the current client’s name onto the label – first name and last initial. Second, change the number of bags to reflect the number going to the client. Third, type in special instructions from columns O-T. These include: 1) Pets – [number of] cats, dogs, or No pet food available; 2) Personal care, laundry detergent, [other specially requested item], if available; 3) NO [item not wanted].
Once the information in the label is updated, print the labels. There should be one label for each bag.
- Uploading to doordash
Once we have filled the spreadsheet (at the end of requests or what we can do at the time being), we upload the information to doordash. To do this, we download the spreadsheet as a comma separated values (.csv) document. We then open the doordash tab, upload “bulk order,” and submit.
- Placing labels on bags and adjusting items in bags.
Either now or with the help of another volunteer during the process, we place labels on the bags going out for doordash. If the label reads 3 bags/ 1 cold, there should be four labels. Three should go on shelf stable bags, and the last goes on the cold bag. Review the special instructions – items specially requested (if available) and items not wanted – and adjust bags accordingly. Make cold bags ahead of time for doordash, though labels do not need to be applied until the doordasher arrives.
- Van deliveries:
Sometimes we get requests that are slightly outside of the doordash delivery radius. In this case, we can make the delivery to them. Volunteers will print labels, gather the bags, and use the Have a Gay Day van to deliver the bags to the client.
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Miami Valley Meals pickup
Miami Valley Meals provides us with pre-made meals to help serve the community. They are cooked, packaged, frozen, and only need to be reheated to eat. We bring these meals from Miami Valley Meals back to Have A Gay Day in preparation for Food Pantry Sunday. Once arriving back at Have A Gay Day, the individual meals go in the small freezer next to the upright fridge-freezer, and larger meals in the upright freezer.
Miami Valley Meals pickup is regularly scheduled on Tuesdays at 1:00, though the time can be adjusted in advance (between 10am and 2pm M-F). We must send the forms to Miami Valley Meals two weeks in advance, so you must let us know more than two weeks in advance in order to arrange another time. We meet at Miami Valley Meals (428 S Edwin C Moses Blvd, Dayton, OH 45402) and bring the food back to Have A Gay Day (1902 Needmore Rd, Dayton, Ohio).
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Thursday Food Bank Delivery
Thursday Food Bank Delivery – receive food, stock shelves, light sorting and organizing of food items in pantry.
Thursday Food Bank Delivery hours are regularly scheduled on Thursdays 9-10:30AM, except for the second Thursday of the month which varies. Check the Point app for events and to sign up! We meet at Have A Gay Day (1902 Needmore Rd, Dayton, Ohio).
