Group Volunteer Leader (PHL)

ABOUT CRADLES TO CRAYONS:

Cradles to Crayons (C2C), founded in 2002, provides children from birth through age 12, living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thriveat home, at school, and at play. We supply clothing, shoes, diapers, school supplies, and more, free of charge. Our vision is that one day all children will have the essentials they need to thrive.

Two in 5 kids in the United States are currently facing Clothing Insecurity, going without basic essentials like pants, shoes, diapers, and school supplies during their critical development years. Three of the top 10 reasons kids miss school are rooted in Clothing Insecurityjust one example of the significant short- and long-term social and economic costs when these needs go unmet. Cradles to Crayons keeps Clothing Insecurity at the core of our mission and is the only large-scale nonprofit organization to focus on this resource gap. Since its founding, Cradles to Crayons has distributed more than three million customized packages of essentials to children in Massachusetts, Greater Philadelphia, Chicagoland, NYC, and nationally, through Giving Factory Directa first-in-kind online product donation platform launched in 2021.

Cradles to Crayons takes a three-pronged approach to mitigating Clothing Insecurity:

1. In-person Engagementthrough tens of thousands of children and adults volunteering at our Giving Factory warehouses to sort and package high volumes of new and like-new donations from our communities for our Service Partners to distribute to the children they serve.
2. Online Product DonationsGiving Factory Direct matches product donors directly to children who need the items they have to donate. GFD is currently available in a growing number of communities as we expand our reach nationally.
3. Advocacy and AwarenessCradles to Crayons is uniquely positioned to raise Clothing Insecurity as a national issue through awareness campaigns, data/evaluation, and legislative outreach.

Cradles to Crayons has earned the highest possible rating from Charity Navigator for 13 consecutive years. Only 2% of charities nationwide have received this distinction. C2C has a budget of $12.9M for FY22.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

The Group Volunteer Leader (GVL) is based in our Giving Factory and oversees many of our volunteers through all steps of their engagement process within our Giving Factory and special events. They are responsible for conveying the Cradles to Crayons mission and quality standards by providing a high-quality orientation and wrap-up at Giving Factory shifts and events. They have a demonstrated ability to work with volunteers of all ages and abilities, and with a group of up to 30 individuals at a time. The GVL regularly leads volunteer shifts and has a responsibility to ensure all stations are volunteer ready, efficient and safe. They will individually have specific responsibility for two to three stations.

This role is 40 hours per week, based around the Giving Factory volunteer shifts. The typical schedule will be Tuesday through Saturday, with some required Monday and Sunday shifts as well as occasional evenings.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Model and lead a positive One Cradles culture, underpinned by Cradles Cultural Values and related behaviors.
• Collaborate with Volunteer Engagement Team to meet annual Distribution and Fundraising goals.
• Cultivate volunteer relationships to maximize future engagement by hosting and leading volunteer shifts in the warehouse.
• Assist with the general cleanliness, efficiency, operations, and Giving Factory Production
• Responsible for providing a high level of customer service during all stages of the volunteer experience, including:
• Deliver a compelling opening and closing orientation presentation so volunteers clearly understand Cradles to Crayons function, operation, and safety protocols.
• Ensuring stations are safe, clean, and volunteer ready
• Assist in the station training of Champion volunteers, staff, and interns
• Perform the duties needed to run all stations, including Sort, Sizing, Outfits, Books, Shoes, SUPs, and Kitting Stations
• Work with the Operations Team to ensure successful preparation for C2Cs events, both on and off-site.
• Assist with collection pickups and partner deliveries, as needed, in C2C vehicles
• Perform other warehouse, inventory, receiving and distribution tasks as directed by the Manager on Duty.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES:

• Successful execution of above responsibilities.
• Successful completion of annual priority goals relative to Cradles to Crayons annual priorities as determined with supervisor in Performance Evaluation Process.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE/KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS/ABILITIES:

• College degree preferred; high school degree required.
• Ability to read, speak and write fluent English, accompanied with excellent written, presentation and communication skills.
• Cultivate internal and external constituencies and build relationships to achieve goals.
• Communicate with co-workers, volunteers, and all visitors to the Giving Factory in a courteous and professional manner.
• Ability to work effectively, independently, under supervision, and in a team-based and goal-oriented environment.
• Ability to work evening and weekend hours each week, easily walk up and down stairs, stand for up to 2 hours, bend down, reach, push and pull and lift up to 50 lbs.
• Valid drivers license and clean driving record required

DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH:

Diversity and Inclusiveness are core values at Cradles to Crayons, and we continuously strive to be a team where everyone feels welcome and supported. It is the policy of Cradles to Crayons to provide equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information and/or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. Individuals from underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

This is a warehouse environment and normal changes in temperature are to be expected while working inside the warehouse or outside, on or around the loading dock. There are no hazardous or significantly unpleasant conditions. This is a physically active position.

ACCOMODATIONS:

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is possible that requirements may be modified to reasonably accommodate disabled individuals. However, no accommodations will be made by Cradles to Crayons which may pose serious health or safety risks to the employee or others, or which impose undue hardships on the organization.