Join our team! Iowa Community Corps AmeriCorps Position at Table to Table

Position Summary:

The Local Foods Recovery Coordinator will support seasonal programs that include gleaning, garden recovery, and produce distribution. They will lead and assist in harvesting excess produce from farms and gardens, strengthening relationships with local donors, and organizing pop-up free produce stands with partner agencies. They will also help pilot initiatives to recover food from semi trucks, culturally specific grocery stores, and prepared food providers.

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.

AmeriCorps Service Term Options: 

The service term for this position is June through August  – 10 weeks, 33 hours per week.

Work Hours: 

At least threedays Monday-Friday from 8am until noon or 3:30pm with some flexibility. 

An evening a week 3-7:30pm for Free Produce Stands. Other days and times as needed and agreed upon. May include weekend Free Produce Stands, gleaning & volunteer events, farmer’s markets, or outreach events with partner organizations.

About AmeriCorps and Iowa Community Corps:

AmeriCorps is the federal agency for national service and volunteerism in the United States. It’s an opportunity for adults of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and their country through a network of partnerships with local and national nonprofit groups. AmeriCorps members address critical needs such as literacy, health, housing, technology, the environment, economic development, and many other fields. It is a chance to apply your skills and energy toward helping others and strengthening the organizations that make a positive difference in Americans’ lives.

Read more about the Iowa Community Corps program. 

Financial Information, Benefits, & Additional Information:

Minimum Time (300 service hours, est. 33 hours/week over 10 weeks):
Living Allowance: $3,945
Education Award: $1,565.08

Supervision Given By: Table to Table Distribution Coordinator

Qualifications & Competencies:

• Enthusiastic advocate for food rescue, hunger relief, and food waste reduction. 
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, maintaining energy through often repetitive tasks. Ability to switch gears quickly and manage multiple tasks concurrently. 
• Ability to work autonomously and perform well under pressure. Detail-oriented & resourceful.
• Functional knowledge and ability to use Microsoft Office and Google Suite.

Licenses & Qualifications:

• Required: Must be able to regularly and repeatedly lift and move 20-40 lbs.
• Preferred but not required: Over 21 with a valid driver’s license for a minimum of 4 years and good driving record (must be insurable under organization liability insurance); willing to drive large vehicles.
• Must be able to use technology including computers, printers, phones, vehicle and refrigeration units, and other equipment. Functional knowledge of computer systems.

Essential Functions:

Local Produce Program Implementation

• Harvest excess produce from farms and gardens 
• Collect excess produce from markets and produce auctions
• Recruit and communicate with farmer- and gardener-donors to increase local food donations
• Recruit and schedule volunteers, including communication of location and time for activities 
• Lead volunteers in gleaning activities 
• Demonstrate best practices for food handling safety 
• Motivate and build up the local farmer- and gardener-donor network through recognition events and outreach 
• Connect with other gleaners in Iowa and build or rebuild gleaning communications and networks
• Track data and evaluate trends around gleaning efforts 

Food Distribution through Free Produce Stands 

• Deliver harvested and prepared produce to local partners in the Johnson County hunger relief network including food pantries & overnight shelters
• Facilitate produce pop-up stands (Free Produce Stands) in neighborhoods & community locations to deliver free produce to food insecure individuals 
• Lead volunteers in setup and tear down of produce stands 

Volunteer & Program Operations Duties

• Recruit and schedule volunteers as needed for gleaning, Free Produce Stands, and food rescue operations 
• Utilize communications tools and create materials to increase public awareness of programs, services & opportunities
• Participate in food rescue program by picking up donations from local partners and delivering/unloading donations at distribution sites 
• Record volunteer feedback and pass on pertinent information that impacts planning and management of food rescue program 
• Unload and organize food received and work with staff to determine the appropriate distribution of food donations
• Track data and evaluate trends: Perform food rescue program data entry & assist with volunteer record keeping through Salesforce

Typical challenges this position will face:

• Frequent interruptions, especially during hours with heaviest volunteer activity
• Last-minute volunteer & logistics scheduling conflicts
• Needing to make sound, quick decisions based upon available information

Work Environment:

• Work is in-person in both an office and warehouse/transportation environment

Interested in learning more? 

Submit a resume and cover letter to Nicki Ross at hr@table2table.org

Table to Table’s Mission Statement:

Table to Table bridges the gap between abundance and hunger. Our mission is to increase food equity and reduce environmental harm by collecting and redistributing surplus food through partners to people who can use it. 

Marquis Heard joined the Table to Table team for a 2023 Summer term as our Produce Stand Coordinator and loved it so much that he chose to stay on for a full 11 month Green Iowa service term, completing a total of 14 months of service with us. He used expertly crafted media relations to significantly raise the profile of T2T’s environmental work and dedicated much of his time to developing and refining our Overages, Shortages, and Damages (OSD) program that focuses on rescuing food from rejected truckloads in the area.

Marquis took the time to reflect on his experiences at Table to Table upon completing his final service term.

I began my first AmeriCorps service term with Table to Table in June 2023. During my three month summer term, I was T2T’s Free Produce Stand Coordinator and was responsible for scheduling and leading over 30 free produce stands hosted in Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty. To me, the most memorable aspect of T2T’s free produce stands was the level of community engagement that existed at them. At each stand, it was great to see people connect around produce and share recipes and dishes with each other. It was also nice to see folks stop by the stand and not only take produce for their family, but for neighbors, friends, and others. I feel as if there’s real connection in sharing food with those around you, and that connection goes much deeper than just nutrition. Before I knew it, an entire summer had passed and I had assisted in distributing over 23,000 lbs of produce through the free produce stands. My term was wrapping up around September, and the last thing I wanted to do was move on from Table to Table right as I truly understood a lot of the intricacies that went into T2T and its mission. Fortunately for me, an 11 month Green Iowa AmeriCorps position was available and offered to me which I gladly accepted.

As a Green Iowa AmeriCorps member, my role switched from coordinating free produce stands to wrapping up the gleaning season, and also assisting with developing Table to Table’s OS&D program. Gleaning is the act of harvesting produce that is excess, and may go to waste in the fields otherwise. Table to Table has a strong connection with over 20 local farms and gardens, and these growers contact T2T when there’s produce for the Gleaning Coordinator to arrange to harvest. It was great to see the other side of T2T’s local produce recovery program, to go from distributing the produce at the stands to harvesting and collecting it felt like a well rounded experience for me. I was also able to gain knowledge on how some of the fruits and vegetables I eat everyday are grown, which is something I didn’t take the time to consider prior to my service term. Additionally, I enjoyed forming relationships with all of the local growers, and to see their excitement and passion for growing food, and the amazing volunteers I met on gleans. Table to Table’s local produce recovery is so special because it provides a home for excess produce that growers put so much time and effort into, and that home is directly in the communities it’s grown in. 

As mentioned earlier, I also assisted in developing T2T’s growing OS&D program. Similar to local produce recovery, the Overages, Shortages, and Damages (OS&D) program finds a home for food that gets rejected within the trucking/transportation industry. These rejections can happen for many reasons, the truck brought too much of a product, the wrong product, or a pallet in the shipment was partially damaged so the whole load was rejected. Assisting in developing this program was a really unique experience since I was given the opportunity to start at almost square one, and was able to see the thoughts and considerations that go into creating a new food rescue program. I really appreciated the time and consideration that the OS&D team, and the T2T staff as a whole, put into explaining to me the broader aspects of how decisions within a program are made. Through OS&D initiatives, I assisted T2T in accepting 40,000 lbs of potatoes from a farm in Canada, 30,000 lbs of Rice-A-Roni from a local trucking company, and 16 other rejected loads from semi truck drivers. Overall, the program collected over 82,000 lbs of food that would have ended up in a landfill otherwise. 

I’m now wrapping up my 14th month serving at Table to Table, and would sign up for another term in a heartbeat if I were able to. In my time at Table to Table, I feel as if I’ve gained countless lifelong experiences, both professionally and personally. T2T truly invests in their AmeriCorps members. Food rescue is ever changing, unpredictable, and sometimes hectic, yet staff still take the time to give even the three month members the best experience possible. It was more than a pleasure to be a part of the T2T team.

We are so thankful for the immeasurable impact Marquis had at T2T during his time with us!