Food Forward Blog
Office and Administrative Internship

ORGANIZATION: Food Forward (501c3 non-profit), www.foodforward.org
HOURS: 10 hours per week: Twice a week from 11 – 4pm at our North Hollywood office.
DATES:  Starts June 1
COMPENSATION: This position is currently unpaid.

ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW:
Food Forward’s mission is to reconnect people with people – through food – by bringing together volunteers and neighbors to share in the gleaning and distributing of locally grown food from private homes and public spaces which is then distributed to local food pantries and organizations serving those in need. Since forming in 2009, Food Forward has rescued over 800,000 pounds of produce from over 325 local backyards and orchards.

Food Forward is growing by leaps and bounds and is at an exciting point in it’s development. To keep up with the increasing opportunities and demands coming to our organization, we are looking for an individual who will assist the core Food Forward team with administrative needs!

We seek someone who is looking for a dynamic experience that will provide a highly valuable work experience in a fast-paced, mission-driven, non profit setting. This position will provide professional experience assisting in the execution of vital programs at Food Forward. The position provides intimate exposure to working with several of Food Forward’s partnership agencies as well. We seek an applicant who is excited to become better familiarized with the Food Justice community of Los Angeles.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Office and Admin Intern will work directly with the Managing Director, Volunteer Coordinator, and the Harvest Coordinator on various projects and tasks pertaining to Food Forward’s daily including the following:

Office/Administrative tasks:
- Help maintain an organized efficient workspace
- Run occasional office-related errands such as buying office supplies (gas money will be provided)
- Assist with correspondence to donors
- Manage inventory and status of merchandise

Harvest management tasks:
- Manage vehicle maintenance on Food Forward vehicles
- Manage the “FruitLine”, Food Forward’s telephone message service.
- Reach out to potential fruit donors to gather basic information
- Help to ensure that the logistics of each pick is organized and coordinated by emailing and calling fruit donors and pantry partners.

Volunteer management tasks
- Reach out to volunteers to gather basic info and send critical details
- Help maintain an organized volunteer database
- Track and manage signed volunteer liability releases
- Update Pick Leader reports in database

QUALIFICATIONS:
We are looking for a team player with a great, can-do attitude. We need a detail-oriented person who enjoys organizing and collecting data and who can work efficiently and comfortably on a website and in Google docs to manage information. Candidate should be a personable multi-tasker, bright and resourceful and a self-starter.  Candidate should be available for at least 3 months.

Other qualifications include:
- College Student or recent graduate
- Strong knowledge and comfort with WordPress, Twitter, Facebook, Google doc, MS Office
- Interest in food justice work desired
- Able to take projects from initial steps to the finish line
- Strong people and public speaking skills
- Must be organized and proficient at Excel
- Must be comfortable with phone calls to homeowners and pantry partners
- Flexible and able to work well under pressure; a team player
- Desire to work in a fast paced environment, start up or non-profit desired
- A valid drivers license and ability to easily navigate the SFV
- Willingness to work some weekends
- Bilingual in English and Spanish is preferred
- Must have a reliable form a transportation

If you are interested in this position, please email your most current resume and a 100-150 word letter explaining why you want to work for Food Forward and what excites you most about our mission. Please send your letter of interest in the body of the email and your resume in PDF format to info@foodforward.org. This position is unpaid.

Read More: Posted in Uncategorized
{Leave a comment}
Shout Out for Blog Posts! Send them our way!

The last two weekends have been incredibly busy, with our CSUN pick, the Spring Melt Fundraiser, Ciclavia, and Earth Day South LA! NOW, we are excited for a summer of fruit picking and community outreach! One way we engage our fruit loving community is through social media and our website! We want to encourage our Food Forward friends to share their thoughts regarding fruit picking, food justice, urban agriculture, food events, and everything food systems related! If you would like to share on the Food Forward blog, please email MAX@FOODFORWARD.ORG. He’ll make sure to post on your behalf!

In the meantime, check out one of our volunteer’s most recent blog posts about Food Forward…Thank you for the post Lowsodiumblog.com!

http://lowsodiumblog.com/2012/04/food-forward-southern-california/

All the best from the FruitQuarters!

Read More: Posted in Uncategorized
{Leave a comment}
Food Forward SPRING MELT FUNDRAISER is around the corner! Get your tickets now!

Please join us for Food Forward 2nd Annual Spring Melt Fundraiser

at Elysian in Silver Lake

Saturday April 14th 7-11pm!

With the purchase of your ticket you can expect an AMAZING assortment of zesty entertainment, a full menu of gourmet grilled cheeses and delicious eats from Clementine + an open bar with beer from New Belgium Brewery, our famous Grapefruit Forward cocktail and wine pours from Jordan Winery.

The night is sure to be fun-filled, with comedianne extrordinaire Beth Lapides as our evening’s Mistress of Ceremonies. Bushels of entertainment will include everything from interactive visual environments by international video artist Jesse Gilbert, sets of juicy dance tunes spun by DJs Fucsia and Matt Franke, to rolling up your sleeves alongside Miss Rhea Purpose at her ridiculous DIY Kraft Korner, plus other zesty surprises!

There will be a shared abundance of door prizes throughout the night, and a not-so-silent auction as only Food Forward can do it – featuring a bounty of outstanding items for all checkbook sizes: temptations for foodies, book worms, wine snobs, movie buffs, health nuts, sports fans and so much more.

Dont worry, we have parking covered too with free valet service all night.

Come support the work of Food Forward to harvest food, fight hunger & build community       and have a juicy fun time while you’re at it!

PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS HERE: http://springmelt.eventbrite.com/

Read More: Posted in Uncategorized
{Leave a comment}
Join us for The Spring Melt – Saturday April 14th !

Howdy Fruit Loops-

Last spring nearly 100 of you joined us at Clementine for an evening of gourmet grilled cheese and other delights by Chef Annie Miler, to help celebrate our “Coming Out” party in West LA. The event was such a hit and a successful fundraiser that it is back for its second year – even bigger and better. Now known as the SPRING MELT we are moving the event to a larger space – Elysian in Silver Lake. It’s April 14th 7-11pm and will be an all out food, wine, microbrew and cocktail celebration like we have never held before. Beyond the entirely new menu of grilled cheese, salads, desserts provided by Clementine, you will find an open bar with our famous Grapefruit Forward, New Belgium Brewery will be providing a fine new citrus-tinged brew, Jordan Winery is supplying wine, and bushels of fun and entertainment including interactive visual environments by international video artist Jesse Gilbert, rolling up your sleeves along with Miss Rhea Purpose at her ridiculous DIY Kraft Korner, hands-on silk screening, DJ’s dancing and more.

The not-so-silent auction will have items for all wallet sizes from signed books and meals at some of LA’s best restaurants, to an incredible Wine Country package, and yes you could even go home with a lot of heirloom hens! Let us also mention there will be a bounty of incredible door prizes going out to the crowd all night long.

The cost at $75 a ticket is less than many a night on the town – and hey, we are even picking up valet parking.

Tickets are limited and can be purchased at: http://springmelt.eventbrite.com

So come party the night away with and in the process help keep on harvesting food, fighting hunger, and building community.

Read More: Posted in Events, Food, Fundraiser, Uncategorized, Volunteer Organization, community action, los angeles volunteer, urban fruit gleaning, urban hunger
{Leave a comment}
Reflections on 3 Years in Fruitland

Yesterday, I had the honor to harvest in the first backyard where this scrappy gleaning operation began exactly 3 years ago.  The Valley Glen tangerine tree where I started this work was on hiatus – taking its every-other-year vacation from fruiting. But the navel tree adjacent to it was fully loaded as it has been every year, with incredible (organic) softball-sized specimens. Just as importantly, the little girl Ava, whose yard it is, and has grown up under and around our ladders, was there to greet us as the Fruitmobile pulled up.  She was no longer the tiny four year old sprout (see first photo below) but she now wielded her own picker alongside us and cleared had grown to grasp what our annual visits mean for the hundreds of people who will be fed from the tree in her yard – and the importance she and her mother Heather play in the Fruitanthropy equation as fruit donors.

First Harvest 1/17/09

Being Guinea Pigs for their crazy neighbor Rick’s idea, joining in on the gleaning and knowing Jan 17th is the magical day for us, Ava and Heather are always there to welcome us and pitch in.  Just watching Ava grow to nearly double her size – but more so, seeing her understand and now appreciate the the importance of this work is reward enough to keep coming back – the 16 cases of fruit (with some from a neighbor’s trees from 3 doors up who has recently joined our program) is irresistible.

Third Anniversary Harvest with Ava 1/17/12

In the time since we began the program  in early 2009, with no name, no agenda and just these two trees, we have grown into a professional operation – actually So Cal’s largest – that helps food pantries and other agencies feed our most vulnerable with gleaned/rescued produce. Soberingly – the numbers of food insecure (people who are not sure where their next meal is coming from) has also ballooned since 2009 to 50 million across the country. Staggering, angering and yes, vastly actionable. I’ll go to my grave convinced hunger in America is a solvable issue. Solvable not by growing more food – but simply by DISTRIBUTING it more thoughtfully, equitably and with a keener understanding that our nation wastes over 40% of the edible food we grow/cook/manufacture. Yes, you read that right – 40%!

Yesterday’s pick came on the heels of our 3rd annual Fruitstock weekend in Santa Barbara where over 40 LA volunteers drove 90 minutes north to help glean over 15,000 lbs that were shared by the SB Foodbank, Oxnard Foodshare and MEND.  Two days of kick-ass mandarin madness on two gorgeous properties with our SB Backyard Bounty pals were separated by a potluck with new and old friends, board members, staff and donors.  Again, an honor to lead it, but even more fun just to be a part of it.

As I wait here in the Fruit Cave for SOVA to pick up those 16 cases of navels from yesterday, which no doubt will flow in and out of their efficient pantry door in 24-48 hours, there is some satisfaction knowing that we may not be conquering hunger at Food Forward but we are fighting it and bringing our community closer with every harvest we undertake.

From 85lbs of tangerines delivered to SOVA on Jan. 17th, 2009, we closed out year three yesterday with over 686,000 lbs (or nearly 2.75 million servings) donated to over 25 agencies in LA, Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties of all shapes and sizes.

2012 holds amazing promise – new programs, strengthening of the Ventura Branch, social enterprise, new interns, new partnerships, a new board chair (the incredible Pam Kaizer) and more – and along with it more challenges. All that to say, every time you drive by a fully loaded orange or grapefruit tree, I hope you will want to rise to the occasion, strap on a harvest bag and go pick?!

Thanks for all the love, support and Fruitanthropy – and here’s to the next three years of sharing the abundance across Fruitland.

Read More: Posted in Uncategorized
{Leave a comment}
lbs. of fruit picked to date
805912
7412 FULTON AVE #3 NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA 91605
ph: 818.530.4125
Follow Us On