Aurora Commons Meal Team Lead

20 hours/week

Aurora Commons is a welcoming space for our unhoused neighbors to rest, prepare a meal, connect to resources, and collectively create a healthy and vibrant community. The Commons was founded on a belief that ALL persons deserve kindness and hospitality.

At the Commons, we strive to cultivate a community of volunteers who feel both deeply valued and connected to our unhoused neighbors in meaningful ways. As a primary point of contact, the Meal Team Lead is responsible for intentionally cultivating this kind of relationship with our kitchen volunteers.

The Meal Team Lead volunteer position oversees a team of volunteer cooks at the Bethany Community Church Green Lake kitchen. This volunteer position requires close collaboration with other Aurora Commons staff, including the Program Manager (PM) and Volunteer Coordinator (VC), to assist people experiencing homelessness by providing delicious and nutritious meals.

Bethany Kitchen responsibilities:

●      Monday-Thursday, 7:00-10am, leading on-site volunteer teams in the production of 85 – 100 individually packaged hot sandwiches, wraps or entrees.

●      Welcoming and orienting new volunteers to kitchen procedures.

●      Assists in monitoring volunteer productivity and provides suggestions for increased service or productivity.

●      Ensure proper food temperatures are maintained and food is stored correctly.

●      Tracking weekly volunteer sign ups. On Thursday, in coordination with VC, determine if any meal prep shifts need to be canceled for the following week and food ordered for those day(s). 

●      When sign-ups for daily teams are low, communicating with PM and VC to order prepared meals from select vendors. 

●      Work with Commons’ staff to utilize donations and purchased food to plan a weekly menu to serve at Aurora Commons.

●      Maintain Bethany kitchen inventory and supplies. 

●      Work with Commons’ lead host to ensure weekly ordering is sufficient for the planned menu.

●      Leading preparation of uncooked/unprepared food including:

○      Pre-cooking of donated items (ie pre-cooking donated chicken to later be used in sandwichs) outside of daily meal prep time, as-needed.

○      Communicating with PM to reserve kitchen outside of our regularly scheduled times to prep food.

●      Transporting purchased &/or donated supplies from Aurora Commons to Bethany kitchen.

●      Convey any maintenance of kitchen equipment and other security problems to PM.

●      Other duties as assigned

Special Programming:

●      Lead Food planning for annual Thanksgiving and Christmas events to serve approximately 150 neighbors which includes:

○      Planning the Menu

○      Creating a shopping list (including paper products)

○      Communicating with PM to reserve kitchen outside of our regularly scheduled times 

○      Leading the coordination of gathering serving equipment. 

○      Communicating volunteer needs to VC and effectively manage volunteers in all aspects of food prep, transportation, set-up, serving, and clean-up

○      Planning set up layout & communicating set-up plan with PM

○      Coordination of clean-up