It’s just that time of year.

With Memorial Day officially here and gone, AmeriCorps*VISTA positions are opening up as fast as umbrellas on the beach. Positions begin at the end of summer.

Campus Kitchen coordinators, volunteers, and enthusiasts are officially invited (in fact, encouraged) to apply. This is the perfect opportunity for a service-oriented, recent graduate looking to hone skills while contemplating next steps in life.

Hurry! Applications for the Washington, D.C.-based positions are due June 11. The Boston position application is due June 15.

JOB #1

Job Title: Community Development Coordinator, AmeriCorps*VISTA position

Location: Washington, DC

Reports to: Director, The Campus Kitchens Project

Overview

The Campus Kitchens Project (CKP) is an emerging leader in community service for students and resourceful anti-hunger programs for communities around the country. We empower thousands of students each year to recycle food from their cafeterias, turn these donations into nourishing meals, and deliver those meals to those who need it most in communities across the country. We currently operate on 26 campuses in 17 states across the country and are growing.  Our mission is to use service as a tool to strengthen bodies, empower minds, and build communities.

The mission of the AmeriCorps*VISTAs (Volunteers in Service to America) is to develop programs that fight poverty in a ways that are sustainable and build the capacity of the host organization.  VISTAs develop new programs, make already existing programs more efficient, and sustain those programs by augmenting the resources the program uses. Over a one year term of service, a VISTA can make a lasting mark on the success of the organization.

The Community Development Coordinator major activities include:

  • Creating new Campus Kitchens at locations across the US focusing on underserved populations in New York, California, Texas and Massachusetts.
    • Use research tools, social media and school-based resources to prospect and develop a targeted list of attractive schools and communities for development of a Campus Kitchen;
    • Perform community needs and resource assessments on targeted communities to determine the feasibility of a Campus Kitchen;
    • Assist expansion through cultivating new partnerships with schools, organizing site visits, evaluating feasibility studies, and assisting school representatives with the application process;
    • Help students connect with potential service delivery agencies such as shelters, after-school programs, and homebound seniors in the community;
    • Help students and sites develop new collaborations with community partners and campus groups to develop programming, a base of volunteers and partner agencies.
  • Develop a model for a student-led direct street outreach program to be implemented in at least two cities nationally.
    • Act as liaison between DC Central Kitchen’s First Helping program, CKP and a service learning class to develop  model.
    • Work with at least two Campus Kitchen coordinators to pilot and implement new programming on a local level
  • Plan days of service with MLK Day of Service Grantees, new site and community partners to develop a base of volunteers for local Campus Kitchens.
  • Coordinate CKP’s presence at applicable conferences, programs, and events.
  • Participate in planning for annual conference, specifically to developing conference sessions on community development and resources.

Qualifications and skills of VISTA candidates:

  • College degree and/or previous community service;
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills;
  • Entrepreneurial skills to seek funding or fundraising experience;
  • Relationship-building, teamwork, and leadership skills;
  • Excellent organizational skills while multi-tasking;
  • Knowledge of and interest in food-justice issues and the local food movement;
  • Comfort in networking with a wide range of community partners across the country;
  • Experience with public speaking and outreach;
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications.
  • Commitment to the mission of the project and its impact on schools, communities and underserved populations.

To Apply

For more information about VISTA, please visit http://www.americorps.gov/about/programs/vista.asp

Visit the My AmeriCorps portal for a full job description and to submit an application and resume.

https://my.americorps.gov/mp/login.do

Applications are due no later than June 11, 2010


JOB #2

Position Title: Food Donations Coordinator, AmeriCorps*VISTA position

Location:  Washington, DC

Reports To: Manager of Partner Relations

Overview
The rescue of surplus food from area food-service establishments and farms has been crucial to DC Central Kitchen’s mission since the organization was founded. The food donations coordinator’s job is to seek new partners for donated food and kitchen equipment, maintain and strengthen existing partnerships and provide educational opportunities for donors about the work the Kitchen does and the issues we address.

DCCK is a leader in using local produce, and one of our biggest sources of fresh fruits and vegetables is gleaning trips where we take volunteers to pick surplus crops at local farms. The food donations coordinator will organize and lead these trips. Volunteer groups who do food drives or off-site cooking projects are another important source of donated food. The food donations coordinator will help facilitate these projects, recruit new groups and give speeches about DCCK, hunger, homelessness and food-justice issues to these volunteers both on and off site.
This position sits within the Kitchen’s Partner Relations Department, which comprises volunteer programming, nutrition education and agency relations, and which places a strong emphasis on building meaningful ties in the local community. The coordinator will work closely with kitchen-production and transportation staff members to ensure that the day-to-day logistics of the food-donations program run smoothly and to implement strategies for effective use of donated food.
Coordinate food and in-kind donations programs

  • Answer telephone and email inquiries about donations of food and kitchen equipment. Schedule pickups of donations and work with other staff members to resolve problems.
  • Maintain food-donor database.
  • Run reports to identify trends in donor activity, provide statistics to DCCK’s development team, and compile information for yearly audit report.
  • Write weekly thank-you letters to donors.
  • Coordinate logistics for food drives with organizations, corporations, school groups, etc. Give groups ideas for food that they could make/donate that would be most useful to DCCK.
  • Facilitate Thanksgiving and other special or seasonal donation/recovery projects.
  • Coordinate logistics for large food recoveries at trade shows and other events (two to three per year).
  • Work with kitchen directors and procurement coordinator to propose and implement specific plans for using donated food efficiently and effectively.
  • Do targeted outreach to potential food donors (e.g. hotels; catering companies; farmers markets; religious and school groups that could do food drives and other food-prep projects for us) to increase the amount of useful food the kitchen receives.
  • Generate information materials for new and potential donors.

Run gleaning program and provide educational opportunities for these and other donors

  • Run DCCK’s gleaning program, which takes volunteers to local farms to pick surplus produce. Responsibilities include: leading weekly trips six months a year; scheduling volunteers; coordinating trip logistics; and developing ways to educate volunteers about disparities in access to healthy, affordable food and the work that is being done to reduce these inequalities.
  • Give speeches about DCCK and food-justice issues to volunteer groups that are doing off-site food-prep projects.
  • Lead on-site snack-making projects for elementary-school aged groups.
  • May periodically lead orientation sessions for evening volunteers.

Additional duties

  • Attend Partner Relations Department meetings and collaborate with nutrition educator, agency relations coordinator and volunteer coordinator on special projects.
  • Do additional duties as assigned by manager of partner relations.

Qualifications

  • Knowledge about and interest in food-justice issues and the local food movement, as well as desire to be part of a large nonprofit whose mission is to “combat hunger and create opportunity.”
  • Comfort in making “cold calls” and networking with a wide range of community partners.
  • Experience doing public speaking and teaching classes.
  • Desire to work with volunteer groups.
  • Ability to be organized and pay close attention to detail while juggling multiple tasks.
  • Ability to stay flexible and keep a sense of humor while working well in a fast-paced and crowded environment.
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications.
  • Valid driver’s license, and ability to drive cargo van or willingness to learn..
  • As food donations coordinator leads weekly gleaning trips, willingness to do physical labor outside in hot or cold weather is required.

To Apply

For more information about VISTA, please visit http://www.americorps.gov/about/programs/vista.asp

Interested applicants must visit the My AmeriCorps portal for a full job description and to submit an application and resume.

https://my.americorps.gov/mp/login.do

Applications are due no later than June 11, 2010

JOB # 3 (not DCCK/CKP affiliated)

Boston: The Food Project seeks two AmeriCorps VISTA Coordinators

APPLICATION DEADLINE: June 15, 2010

The Food Project has two AmeriCorps VISTA positions open.  One for a Communications and Outreach Coordinator working in the Boston Public Schools Farm to School Initiative.  The other position is for a Community Outreach Coordinator who will assist in developing a service and community engagement initiative that will address community food security issues in Boston and on the North Shore.

Details for both positions can be found on The Food Project’s website: http://thefoodproject.org/jobs

Interested applicants MUST apply through Americorps. If you have any questions, please contact Kim Szeto: tfp.vista@gmail.com.

Positions begins August 30, 2010. Required Pre-Service Orientation is August 23-26, 2010.

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