Food Pantry Associate (FWS)

Position Title: Food Pantry Associate (FWS)

Department: Counseling

Advertised Pay: 10.00

Campus Location: Washburn University

Position Summary:

Student pantry staff welcome and assist guests who use the pantry's services, process donations and orders, ensure goods are unpacked and stocked for guest access, maintain the cleanliness of the Bods Feeding Bods spaces across our campuses, and tend the community garden. Flexible scheduling is available Monday through Friday between 8:00am and 5:00pm with the potential for evening and weekend hours as requested by student employee.

Helping you be career ready: Skills you will gain as a Food Pantry Associate:
Communication
-Assist pantry patrons during pantry hours of operation
-Participate as part of a collaborative team
-Participate in fundraising and awareness events.
Career & Self-Development
-Strengthen customer service skills
-Assist pantry patrons
-Explore career paths and expand your network
Critical Thinking
-Learn and implement compliance policies
Equity and Inclusion
-Assist pantry shoppers of all backgrounds and experiences
-Network with campus partners and community members
Leadership
-Represent Bods Feeding Bods while on duty.
Professionalism
-Provide excellent customer service
-Learn and implement privacy standard of pantry
Teamwork
-Collaborate with peers, Care Coordinator, and campus partners
-complete projects as part of the Bods Feeding Bods Pantry Team
Technology
-Gain skills in electronic documentation and databases utilized by pantry.
-Social Media/ marketing experience

About Washburn University: 

Washburn University is a teaching-focused, student-centered, public institution located in the metropolitan setting of Topeka that has earned national recognition for its high-impact programs for first-generation students. Washburn has a student body of just over 7,000 students, a significant and growing number of whom are first-generation and Pell-Grant eligible. The University has created educational pathways for all students to be successful and achieve their educational goals.

Washburn is dedicated to recruiting and retaining a dynamic faculty, staff, and student body and cultivating a robust learning and working environment and curriculum. We employ more than one thousand faculty and staff on our campuses throughout Topeka and strive to offer competitive wages, an excellent benefits program, and a supportive culture and a healthy work/life balance. Washburn seeks to create an environment that reflects our core values for creating positive IMPACT: inclusion, modernization, partnership, achievement, community and transformation. In 2024, Washburn was recognized as one of the best colleges in the nation to work for, according to Great Colleges to Work For® program.

Essential Functions:
Bods Feeding Bods Food and Commodities Pantry seeks to develop Career Readiness skills in student employees and interns. For each essential function listed below, the connected skill students will develop is listed in parenthesis.
-Ability to interact with others in a friendly, respectful, and
professional manner. (Communication)
-Provide customer services to all people of all backgrounds and experiences who make up the Washburn community (Equity and Inclusion)
-Follow all policies for behavior, safety, guest privacy, and reporting. (Professionalism)
-Ability to sort donations, stock/organize shelves, and use a scale to weigh incoming and outgoing food and commodities. (Critical Thinking)
-Assist with food drives and fundraising, conduct outreach/education/awareness activities, etc. in collaboration with other pantry staff. (Communication)
-Stock primary food pantry location as well as stocking Outposts located in various locations around campus. (Teamwork)
-Monitor online orders & ensure timely fulfillment (Technology)
-Maintain cleanliness of the food pantry and its various Outposts locations. (leadership)
-Help conduct marketing and public relations for the pantry including assisting with social media. (Technology)
-Maintain compliance via observing and recording temperatures, sell-by/use-by dates, etc. and taking action accordingly (Career and Self-Development)
-Performs additional job duties as assigned. (Career and Self-Development)

Required Qualifications:
-Applicants must be eligible for and awarded federal work study.
-Applicants must have current food handling training. Applicants without said training must complete the training prior to being assigned shifts in the pantry. The training time is paid.
-Ability to use a computer and cloud based software.
-Ability to lift boxes and items weighing up to 50 pounds.
-Ability to maintain privacy of information.

Preferred Qualifications:
-Evidence of strong communication skills, both written and spoken.
-Possess attention to detail.
-Willingness to deliver exceptional customer service.

Special Instructions to Applicants: 

Hourly, Part time    
Background Check Required