Anne Langebartels

AmeriCorps VISTA Food Rescue Specialist

Position Summary:

The AmeriCorps Food Rescue Specialist will contribute to the hunger relief efforts in Johnson County by supporting the daily function of the food rescue program and its volunteers in a friendly and fast-paced environment. This person will be part of the team directing volunteers and actualizing smooth pick-up and delivery of food donations, and preparing T2T’s fleet of vehicles for food rescue routes. This position may also participate in the gleaning (harvesting) of excess produce from farms and gardens as well as getting the food to food-insecure individuals via pop-up free produce stands and other efforts with partner agencies. T2T serves as the hub for 60% of the food distributed by Johnson County’s hunger relief network. The best candidate is an energetic team player with strong communication skills who enjoys interacting with people of diverse ages and backgrounds.

Read more about member benefits here.

Table to Table AmeriCorps Food Rescue Specialist 2021-2022

Schedule and Duration:A full time 8 week position June 27 – Aug. 21, 2022

Weekdays 8AM to 4PM with some flexibility. Some weekends, evenings required.

Required: Willing to consent to an AmeriCorps background check.

Preferred but not required: Over 21 with a valid driver’s license and good driving record.

Supervision Given By: The Food Rescue Specialist is supervised by the T2T Program Manager and is part of a team including the T2T Program Coordinator and Program Assistant.

If you’re interested in this AmeriCorps position, please submit your resume to Allison Gnade at Table to Table via email: allison@table2table.org

Apply Now

About AmeriCorps

Being an AmeriCorps member is about making a tangible difference for communities and individuals dealing with some of our nation’s biggest challenges: poverty, inequity, homelessness, and lack of access to education. Summer AmeriCorps members help organizations with activities that work to alleviate the effects of poverty all across the country. As an AmeriCorps member you will serve in a project identified and managed by the community while earning a modest living allowance that reflects the income level of the community where you’re serving.

T2T staff, volunteers, Board members, and partner organizations compiled this post to honor Nicki for her five years of leadership of Table to Table:

This spring marked Nicki Ross’s fifth anniversary at Table to Table! Nicki began as T2T’s Executive Director in March of 2017. Through caring leadership and a passion for finding ways to connect an abundance of nutritious food to our neighbors, Nicki has guided our organization through major increases in pounds of food rescued, a pandemic, and a relocation during the pandemic – just to name a few milestones. 

During Nicki’s leadership, Table to Table has grown from rescuing 1.8 million pounds of food a year to rescuing 2.4 million pounds each year. We’ve done this by increasing our number of food rescue routes by 43% – from 35 routes each week to 50 routes a week. Hundreds of volunteers contribute to T2T’s accomplishments through rescuing food on routes, preparing our fleet, assisting with office needs, harvesting produce at local farms, planning fundraisers, and gifting their skills and talents for special projects that build T2T’s capacity to do good work for our community.

“When Nicki took the helm at Table to Table, it was already a respected, established organization, but it has risen to new heights under her leadership,” writes Charlotte Fairlie, T2T food rescue route volunteer. “The office is alive with a talented, expanding staff, whose hard work and ideas have led to new initiatives, such as last summer’s [produce] pop-ups. The network of community connections has spread, leading to an effective synergy among agencies.”

That synergy has benefited the entire Johnson County hunger relief network. Close relationships with recipient partners allow T2T to meet current needs to the best of our ability as quickly as possible. Coralville Community Food Pantry Executive Director John Boller shares: “Nicki is one of the most genuine, compassionate, and collaboration-focused nonprofit leaders that I know.”

In 2020, one result of Nicki’s collaborative efforts was the founding of the Iowa Gleaning Network to rescue farm crops and increase Iowans’ fresh produce resources. And T2T collaborations with community partners have led to produce pop-up distributions in neighborhoods to share high-nutrient foods while reducing barriers to food access. T2T has also prioritized collecting dairy, meat, and produce – valuable items for pantries – and increased those by more than 30% overall in the past five years. These efforts continued during the pandemic. 

In 2020, Nicki wrote: “Letting any nutritious food go to waste at a time when some of our hunger relief partners were serving double and triple the number of people in need is simply unacceptable.” Reflecting on the first year of the pandemic: “For our neighbors enduring this health and financial crisis, T2T deliveries are the difference between families nourishing themselves with good protein, fresh fruits, and veggies or filling their bellies with food that is plentiful, cheap, and far less nutritious. During this time, T2T delivered enough food for at least one nutritious meal per day for every food insecure family in Johnson County.”

What makes Nicki a strong leader? “Her ability to have a real vision of what our organization can be, along with the ability to see and be aware of all the details that need to be addressed,” says Tom Jepson, T2T volunteer and former Board member. “I don’t know that I have come across a leader that has those two traits together.” 

“It’s difficult to believe she has only been with Table to Table for 5 years–she leads like a veteran decision-maker and has guided the organization to exciting new heights in such a short amount of time,” John Boller adds. 

“Also of note is the fact that Nicki was chosen as the Outstanding Executive Director by the United Way in only her second year in our community,” Tom Jepson points out.

Food rescue depends on the people behind it. “As a volunteer, I feel valued,” says Mary Kelley, who volunteers on a weekly Friday route with her husband Mike, and recently joined the Table to Table Board of Directors. Volunteers now collectively contribute 20,000 hours to T2T’s mission per year, their numbers having grown by 80% since 2017. 

“Besides the statistics that provide evidence of Nicki’s success, I would add that, equally importantly, she fosters a cheerful, welcoming atmosphere in the office,” says Charlotte Fairlie. The supportive and welcoming culture Nicki has helped foster at T2T comes back to her appreciation for the T2T team of staff and volunteers.

In 2021, Nicki wrote: “Let me express one more time gratefulness for our T2T team and the staff and volunteers of all our partners who work tirelessly. Their commitment was unbowed by the sustained adversity of this year. Their work, guided by their hearts, their creativity, and courage allowed us to innovate and lead. I am incredibly proud to see them do what sometimes seems impossible.” 

“Nicki constantly strives to make things better… she inspires all of us to do our best!” Mary Kelley adds.

We’d like to echo John Boller’s closing sentiment: “Here’s to another 5 years!”

Talk with Nicki and T2T staff in person at our 25th Anniversary Dinner! Ticket sales for this fundraiser help us do critical work in redistributing abundance to our neighbors. Get yours here!

Table to Table is kicking off a celebration of 25 years and fundraising for construction expenses with a free to the public Open House on Thursday, February 24, from 3:30-6:30 p.m. at 1049 US-6 E, Iowa City in Pepperwood Plaza. Our celebration of 25 years is presented by MidWestOne Bank.

Take a walk through time as you tour our new space, learning our history through engaging displays and talking with those involved along the way. Tours will be in small groups and masks are required.

Founded in 1996 by a group of food providers, activists, and community members with an idea to redistribute an abundance of food, we had our beginnings operating from 700 square feet of space in downtown Iowa City, from which 12 volunteers rescued an astounding 50,000 pounds of food in the first year. 

Now, T2T has transformed into a distribution network of more than 100 volunteers rescuing 50,000 pounds of food each week and delivering it to recipient agencies that feed more than 20,000 Johnson County neighbors. 

Our new location in Iowa City’s South District neighborhood is closer to partner agencies that receive more than half the rescued food. A larger space also accommodates resource-sharing partnership with nonprofit Field to Family allowing our two organizations to share the space, basic operational expenses, and food refrigeration. 

Necessary renovations to the space include installing an overhead door and upgrading the plumbing and electrical lines to meet food warehousing standards, for which we need to raise $75,000. We are 32% of the way to our goal.

Checks made out to Table to Table can be mailed to PO Box 2596, Iowa City, IA 52244, or make a donation online.

By Nora Garda, T2T Gleaning Coordinator through AmeriCorps 4H Environmental Education

As the Gleaning Coordinator at Table to Table, I facilitated efforts to address the problems of food insecurity and food waste by working with local farmers who have excess produce, volunteers willing to harvest it, and recipient organizations serving our neighbors. Being able to rescue fresh produce that would otherwise go to waste and donate this produce to those in need has been extremely rewarding. I had multiple opportunities to chat with farmers and the recipients; farmers were very grateful for the service we provided while recipients were genuinely thankful to be getting locally-grown, fresh produce.

I must say that beyond the incredible volume of fresh, delicious and healthy food we collected and distributed, what really gave sense to my experience was this community I felt a part of; it made the entire process heartwarming.

I love to garden, I love vegetables and I love being outdoors. I also have a passion for people. These have been nine amazing months! What else can I ask for?

Things I learned:

• It is wonderful to get the morning sunshine while working in the fields.
• It is good to be plugged into the local food system.
• It is valuable and exciting to learn how food is grown; the growers we worked with were so knowledgeable and passionate about growing the best quality food. I loved learning from them! It was so nice to develop a personal connection with so many of them.
• I didn’t know that urban agriculture was a “thing” in Johnson County. I had no idea there were so many farms in the city. So, learning about this small -but growing- movement of young people seeking out a more agricultural life was surprising and exciting. These hardworking, idealistic young farmers live around us. They invest hours and hours of their lives researching, connecting to the soil, experimenting with new crops, and growing quality produce. And what is even better, they don’t hesitate to donate the excess to those less fortunate. It gives me hope in humanity. 
• The gleaning volunteers were awesome!!! Service-oriented, community-involved and outdoor lovers! It was great to get to know new people from all age groups! I got to work with teenagers, families, college students, and retirees. We shared many big laughs and friendly conversations; the camaraderie was touching. There was always a real sense of teamwork. I feel lucky to have met so many great people!
• It was a time to practice flexibility and adaptability.  Every glean was an adventure. We gleaned when it was 90+ degrees and sunny. We gleaned in the rain. We gleaned in bitter cold days. We gleaned when we couldn’t find the field, when we didn’t bring enough boxes. We couldn’t lift the boxes containing hundreds of pounds of watermelons! We found ourselves in wet fields and with every step we would sink into mud. And we could be called upon to glean at any time on any farm; we never knew exactly when we were going to be out there. But in the end, none of these situations stopped us or slowed us down. We had a can-do attitude and we made it happen every single time, through teamwork.
• Our new partnership with Twin County Produce Auction (TCPA) added a new level of adventure. The huge success of collecting excess produce donated from farmers at the auction was a surprise for us at T2T and for those at TCPA! I greatly enjoyed getting to know their community in the process, ending with hugs at the end of the season.
• And finally, T2T staff is the best!!!! Friendly, helpful, committed, thoughtful, knowledgeable and, above all, nice, nice people. After 30 years in the corporate/scientific world, my time as Gleaning Coordinator at T2T has been a breath of fresh air. I enjoyed every single minute here.

Working for a good cause always makes me feel good, and the shared sense of fellowship with volunteers, farmers and the T2T team made this an enlightening experience.