Venice food pantry is making adjustments to distribution, due to the price of food increasing and some individuals are not happy about the changes

Some of you may know, but those of you who have come on board in the last couple of years, probably aren’t aware that we did not offer produce as we do now.  In addition, we did not serve campers once a week, nor did we have nearly the variety of things that we now have for them.  There was no lunch meat for instance.  Offering produce and serving campers once a week came about only after we moved back indoors after COVID, when we bagged generic items and handed them out to clients in their cars.  We were lucky enough to get generous donations during that time, and we were able to take advantage of the Flanzer Trust which doubled everything we received.  For that reason, the board decided to give produce a trial run as well as once a week visits for campers.  This has been happening since August 2019, and there has been a learning curve. We also added a dozen eggs and coffee to our inventory. Everyone needs to be aware that Linda, who purchases our food, has a budget that is determined by the board of directors.  We are in good financial shape right now, but Flanzer is running out and food prices are rising.  The board must be diligent in planning for the future, and we need your help. 

The primary way that you, as a trusted volunteer, can help is to adhere to the guidelines that have been laid out for you.  If you have questions about these guidelines, you need to ask Linda, Lucy, or Rosie to clarify.  The guidelines are designed to guarantee consistency from one client to another and to manage our food dollars wisely.  It’s easy to have favorite people whom you would like to give special consideration, but that is not what we’re about.

1.   BIG CHANGE IN THE WAY CAMPERS ARE SERVED:  There is little consistency between what one camper and another get. One day this week a camper left with a grocery cart of three brown bags filled.  This is for one week!  It is not fair that some volunteers give more or that the campers who beg for extras get more.  We also have campers who ask the volunteers at the regular counter for items, especially pork chops or other cuts of meat reserved for our regular clients once a month.  There is an issue of time as well.  It takes almost as long to serve a camper with a limited amount as it takes a regular client to get food for a month.

Beginning this week we will no longer have campers come inside the pantry and “shop”.  Instead, the door attendant will hand them a sheet of paper listing available items.  They will be asked to check what they need.  The sheet along with the person’s All Faiths card will be taken to the desk where he/she will be recorded on the computer.  The bread/produce/ camper volunteer, not the desk volunteer will then fill the order which will be given to the client outside.

2. CHANGE IN DISTRIBUTING PRODUCE In a similar way we are going to ask our monthly clients to indicate on a half sheet of paper the produce they would like.  There will be an amount limit depending on the number in the household.  If the client wants all potatoes and no zucchini, for instance, he/she can choose that.  The client will give the paper to the produce volunteer who will put together their order while they are shopping at the regular counter.

This should improve our efficiency as well as our consistency, but we need cooperation from all of our volunteers.  It may not affect stockers, but certainly the people working in the front should be aware of these changes.

We appreciate the hard work and many hours that you provide as a volunteer.  This, we hope, will make your days go more smoothly; and we can avoid running overtime.

Sincerely,  Linda Fraser, Lucy Carlson, Rosie Schroeder