The Volunteer Handbook

We have put together a short Volunteer Handbook describing many of the details of volunteering at Loaves & Fishes. The information is available below or it can be downloaded as a .pdf for easy printing. If your organization is interested in volunteering, please fill out our volunteer follow up form or contact Andréa Kish-Bailey at loavesak@loavesandfishesmn.org or by phone at 612-377-9810.

About Volunteering at Loaves & Fishes

Who Are Our Volunteers? Faith communities, businesses, corporations and various civic groups are encouraged to participate in Loaves & Fishes. Our goal is to provide a calm, efficient, cheerful and courteous service. We remember that in different circumstances the people we are serving might be serving us.

What to Wear: Coats, hats and purses may be stored in the kitchen or office. Modest, washable clothing is suggested, Open-toed shoes are not recommended. Plastic hair nets and aprons are provided for you at the site. Please feel free to bring a cloth hat and apron to work in.

What to Bring: Do not bring or wear personal items of great value. All the kitchen utensils are provided. Cloth hats ($5) and aprons ($10) are available for purchase at the site.

Serving Nights and Numbers: You site coordinator will contact you one week before your serving night to give you an estimate of how many guests to expect. We usually see more guests near the end of the month.

Menus: The volunteer serving teams purchase all of the food and milk served. Donations of paper products and coffee are greatly appreciated.

What to Expect on Your Serving Night

Serving Teams: Teams are made up of 12—25 volunteers with an estimate of 5-8 volunteers coming around 2:00 pm to prepare the meal and wrap plastic ware. The rest of the team generally arrives 30 minutes before the meal is served.

Team Coordinator: Organizes volunteers and maintains a list of volunteer contact information. Plans menu and orders food supplies. Assigns task to team volunteers.

Meal Prep: Report to site after 1:30 pm to prepare the evening meal. Table Setters: Wrap plastic ware in napkins for easy distribution to guests.

Food Servers: Trays are passed down the serving line for the food and utensils and then handed to guests.

Beverage Servers: Beverages are served to guests at a designated spot.

Clean Up: Wipe off tables and chairs and clean dining area by direction of the site coordinator. Sweep and scrub kitchen floor. Wash trays, pots, pans, dry and put away (face down). Wipe down countertops, scrub burners and all ovens. Site coordinators may have additional instructions or checklists. After all guests have been served, check with the site coordinator about serving seconds. Meals are served for the full hour so seconds may not be served on order to have enough food for late arrivals. If there is ample food, volunteers are encouraged to eat with the guests.

Youth Participation Policy: At Loaves & Fishes we are respectful of the desire of parents and youth sponsors to involve youth in community service and to expose them to a condition of life different from their own. These youth participation guidelines help minimize our liability risk, provide for the safety of the youth, provide an efficient work environment, and help maintain the dignity of our guests.

• Youth 16 years of age and older can help in any areas of the dining site but additional restrictions may be applied by the site coordinator as needed.
• No one under the age of 16 should mop, handle hot beverages or be in the kitchen in the proximity of hot food, ovens, dishwashers, etc.
• Youth age 12 and under need to have direct one-on-one supervision. It is suggested that children under the age of 8 do not attend.
• Because each dining site is different and has needs, site coordinators may also implement additional youth serving restrictions as they deem appropriate.
• If bringing a group of youth (confirmation class, boy scouts, etc.) please contact your site coordinator ahead of time to be sure that another youth site visit has not already been scheduled.

Please note that if children do accompany the serving team adult supervision is necessary as outlined above and that this may still leave the serving team more short-handed. Please let your volunteer team coordinator know when youth will be a part of a team and make any necessary adjustments in volunteer numbers.

Volunteer Contact Information: A Volunteer Team Contact Information Form must be filled out for Loaves & Fishes when a team first starts and then annually to update and add new team members to Loaves & Fishes’ records.

Guidelines for Donations: Loaves & Fishes greatly appreciates your donations of money and supplies to the organization. Please send monetary donations to: Loaves & Fishes — Central Office, 1917 Logan Ave. S., Minneapolis MN 55403. Serving supplies and items for our guests can be brought directly to the site. For large donation distribution, please contact the site coordinator in advance.

Food Safety:

• All volunteers and staff must thoroughly wash and dry their hands before work, between tasks, and before working with food goods and equipment. Gloves are to be worn at all times and changed often.
• Any cut or sores on hands must be covered by a bandage and gloves.
• Hair restraints are required and available for use when preparing and serving food.
• A cooking thermometer must be used to assure the safe temperatures have been reached when cooking meats 160—180 degrees depending upon the meat. If preparing food items off site, they must be transported safety in insulated containers to maintain safe temperatures.
• Please refer to the “7 Food Safety Steps for Successful Community Meals” for additional guidelines.