Hi! Thank you for volunteering your time to help out at Twin Lakes Food Bank.
Please wear close-toed shoes for your safety, and bring a reusable water bottle. Also, please plan to park at Mt. Olive Church located across the street from the food bank. Please park on the side that is NOT directly across the street from TLFB so it is easier for our guests to park closer.
Please take the time to review the following roles and responsibilities BEFORE you volunteer:
This job requires that you are physically able to lift 50 pounds or more.
OPERATIONS HELP
(2-3 volunteers, 8:30am start)
First and foremost, treat people with kindness!
Set up at 8:30am:
UNLOADING/SORTING/WEIGHING
• Help to unload trucks with store donations from Sam’s Club.
o Unload the first pallet from the truck. Remember no boxes can touch the ground, so
utilizing an empty pallet is sometimes needed to allow sorting.
o Separate food into categories, the unload the second pallet and separate into categories.
Continue until you have finished unloading the last pallet.
o Once all food is sorted into categories, it needs to be logged and weighed. Using the
Store Log Daily Reporting Sheet (usually kept on a clipboard on the wall next to the walkin), mark the store (i.e., “S” for Sams-see key on the bottom left of the sheet), category
(bread [includes desserts], dairy, deli, frozen foods, meat, produce, non-perish, or nonfood)., was pallet part of weight?, number of boxes on pallet, was a round on the pallet?
o Place an “already weighed” sign on the pallets so it’s clear what can be sorted and
moved.
o After produce is weighed, sort produce into refrigerated and non-refrigerated (see sign
on wall near walk-in.) This is not required on Fridays, as the goal is to distribute all
produce that same day.
o Discard any rotten, expired, or severely damaged produce in compost can or spoilage
trashcan under the produce tent.
o Ask produce what they need for the day and take the rest to a storage refrigerator (first
choice are the refrigerators close to the front desk; if full, use refrigerators in the
warehouse).
• Help to unload trucks with store donations from Raley’s/Bel Air/Whole Foods.
o Driver/Warehouseman loads carts in the truck the afternoon before.
o Items are loaded into truck into designated cart (blue cart, black cart, or orange cart) by
category from the Store Log Daily Reporting Sheet: bread (includes desserts), dairy, deli,
frozen foods, meat, produce, non-perish, or non-food.
o Five people are needed: Driver/Warehouseman (or volunteer driver) who moves cart to
edge of truck bed, BigJoe operator lowers the cart from the truck, another person
wheels cart from BigJoe to pallet jack, the pallet jack operator weighs the cart, and calls
out the weight to the Driver/Warehouseman (or volunteer driver), who notes the weight
for each cart and the color of the cart (as the weights are different) on the Store Log
Daily Reporting Sheet, and a fifth person to deliver cart into designated area (i.e., deli
meals get wheeled in to bagging area, bread/desserts get wheeled into meat/dairy
counter area, frozen meals into the walk-in freezer).
o Sort produce into refrigerated and non-refrigerated (see sign on wall near garage). This is
not required on Fridays, as the goal is to distribute all produce that same day.
o Discard any rotten, expired, or severely damaged produce in compost can or spoilage
trashcan under the produce tent.
o Ask produce what they need for the day and take the rest to a storage refrigerator (first
choice are the refrigerators close to the front desk; if full, use refrigerators in the
warehouse).
• Help to unload trucks with store donations from Target.
o Items are sorted into boxes as they are put on the truck in categories listed on Store Log
Daily Reporting Sheet: bread (includes desserts), dairy, deli, frozen foods, meat, produce,
non-perish, or non-food.
o Prepare pallets and unload boxes.
o Mark the category, the size (usually large box), and the weight on the Store Log Daily
Reporting sheet. This sheet can normally be found on a clipboard near the walk-in
freezer.
o Sort produce into refrigerated and non-refrigerated (see sign on wall near garage). This is
not required on Fridays, as the goal is to distribute all produce that same day.
o Discard any rotten, expired, or severely damaged produce in compost can or spoilage
trashcan under the produce tent.
o Ask produce what they need for the day and take the rest to a storage refrigerator (first
choice are the refrigerators close to the front desk).
o Remaining boxes are then immediately distributed to the appropriate area.
Rules for Frozen Meat
• Sort all frozen meat. To avoid cross contamination, meat MUST be boxed by type (beef with beef,
chicken with chicken, etc.).
• Place a white sticker (roll located on the wall near the walk-in) on the meat box (remove any old
stickers or be sure to place the new sticker directly over the old sticker) and denote “type” and
month/year, and place in the walk-in freezer. Meat MUST be stacked by type: one stack for
chicken, one stack for beef, one stack for pork/bacon. Do NOT cross-contaminate.
• When placing a new box in the walk in, be sure to rotate based on expiration (don’t put the new
box on top; rotate the older boxes so they can be pulled first from the walk-in).
• Meat with damaged packaging can go in the box marked “vet dogs” in the walk-in freezer.
• Fish should NEVER be kept in the freezer behind the deli counter, only the walk-in freezer.
• NEVER STACK MORE THAN 4 BOXES ALONG THE BACK WALL. This will cause the compressor to
fail. The max number of boxes on the sides is 6.
Additional Notes
• Put empty boxes in the appropriate spot behind the building (banana boxes are for meat
storage; fruit boxes are for breads/pastries/frozen foods, etc.).
• Thursdays: prepare 3-4 boxes of soft bread for afternoon pickup by farmer if advised by Director
of Operations (farmer on hiatus until January 2024-he will text when ready to re-start)
• Fridays: prepare for Father’s Heart pick-up about 11:30 (Warehouseman leads)
• Fridays: prepare all spoiled product for Farmer pick-up about 11:30 (Warehouseman leads)
EGG SORTING (covered by various volunteers each day, either from Operations or Bagging
Room)
• Inspect each egg for cracks. Discard cracked eggs in the “Broken Eggs” plastic bin located on the
bottom shelf of the deli refrigerator.
29 12/14/2023
• Put good eggs in 12 pack cartons. Only use 18 packs if there are no 12 packs left BUT be sure to
only put 12 eggs in; do not put 18 in! Any extra 12 packs are in the shed off the back patio.
• Excess cardboard 18-packs can go into the shed nearest the warehouse for the Garden Manager
to compost. If we have too many plastic 18-packs, they can be recycled in the recycle dumpster.
• Once 12 good eggs are in the carton, write today’s date on the top of the carton.
• Cross out the date stamped on the side of the egg carton.
• When finished, sanitize egg sorting table (daily).
Thanks!
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