DEPARTMENT: Volunteer Services

REPORTS TO: Delivery Manager

LOCATION: Sebastopol Kitchen

FLSA STATUS: Regular, Part-Time, Non-Exempt

EXPECTED HOURS: 12-19 per week 

Position Summary

The paid Driver position at Ceres Community Project is responsible for county-wide food deliveries across Sonoma, Marin, Lake, Solano, and Napa Counties. S/he/they may deliver food and supplies between Ceres’ two centralized kitchens, provide procurement pickups, and/or support emergency meal provision to County-designated emergency shelters when activated. As a representative of Ceres, Drivers must model our operating principles and values, which include providing compassion and care while delivering nutritious, health-supporting meals to clients with chronic and acute health conditions.

An ideal candidate is comfortable working with diverse groups of people, is flexible and highly adaptable, and has a desire to serve the broader community.

Typical Schedule (delivery times include, but are not limited to):

• Wednesday 9:00 am – 12:30 pm / 3:00pm – 6:30 pm Sebastopol pick-up and delivery throughout Sonoma County
• Friday 9:00 am – 2:30 pm / 3:00pm – 6:30 pm Sebastopol pickup up and delivery throughout Sonoma and Solano counties
• Additional deliveries to far-reaching clients in other Ceres serviced counties (Napa/Lake) to be determined and based on need
• Occasionally support cart runs to Novato and serve as a backup driver on Thursday PM shifts and Monday/Tuesday and for emergency meal deliveries on weekdays and (rarely) weekends

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

• Ensures timely delivery of meals to clients, either as part of a scheduled route or as an on-call back up when there is a shortage of volunteers or a need for emergency food provision
• Transports agency supplies and equipment among sites as needed; may be called on to transport large donations, refuse disposal, or last-minute deliveries
• Procures supplies and inventory from Ceres’ vendors, arrives at and delivers within specified time windows.
• Loads and unloads Ceres’ delivery vehicle.
• Provides back-up and logistics support as needed to stage and host weekly deliveries
• Responsible for food temperature checks, logging results a minimum of twice monthly; alerts supervisor of any out-of-range logs.
• Supports onboarding and training of volunteers and other paid Drivers
• May be required to complete wellness checks and provide client services with status updates on clients.
• Interacts professionally with staff at food donor and recipient organizations. Acts as an ambassador for Ceres, communicating information about shared successes and addressing any issues that arise.
• Follows all food-safety guidelines in handling food; escalates any issues or feedback to supervisor as needed.
• Communicates feedback regarding clients’ requests and improvements on the delivery instructions to Delivery Manager/Volunteer Relations Manager.
• Other duties as required or requested, including:
  • Routine vehicle maintenance, refilling gas, oil changes, minor repairs, checking tires, keeping vans clean, etc.
  • Event logistics support
• Responsibly manages a Ceres’ credit card and related purchase protocols (i.e. keeps card safe, sends receipts in a timely manner to accounting).
• Represents Ceres in the community, participating in and supporting agency-wide events as needed.

Qualifications

• Valid California driver's license and excellent driving
• Schedule flexibility and ability to work nights, holidays, and
• Organized with excellent attention to detail.
• Flexible and able to handle last-minute changes with a positive attitude.
• Friendly, outgoing and able to interact with clients, youth and adult volunteers, community donation partners, and staff of varying backgrounds.
• Strong verbal and written proficiency with the English language to facilitate communication, bilingual a plus.
• Desire to serve the community and patience to interact with individuals experiencing a health
• Excellent ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Construction and/or repair/handiwork experience a plus.
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite.

Physical Demands/Work Environment

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a staff member to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing duties of job, employee is required to:

• Move; walk up multiple flights of stairs; sit; drive; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; talk and hear.
• Employee must be able to bend, stoop, twist, and lift and/or move up to 50 pounds unassisted on a regular basis. 
• Employee will be asked to move fully loaded meal containers from floor to vehicle and vice versa regularly.
• Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.
• Occasionally the employee is required to work out-of-doors representing Ceres at events.

COVID-19

Ceres is following the guidance and requirements of the health departments of Sonoma and Marin counties and the state of California. We have protocols in place for prevention of and response to COVID-19 and all new staff will be briefed on these in their onboarding. We need a commitment from all staff that they will abide by these protocols. 

Operating Principles

• Heart Centered & Love Guided - We are committed to expressing love, trust, respect and integrity in our lives, work, and organization.
• Everything Matters - Nothing is left out. We work to have every action and choice lead to the greatest positive impact.
• Young People are the Future - Young People are intelligent, responsible, capable, creative, and caring, and must be central participants in shaping our collective future.
• Equitable, Diverse, and Inclusive - We commit to championing policies and practices of social equity that build a diverse, inclusive, and healthy workplace and food system.

Ceres Organization

Founded in 2007, Ceres Community Project works to build healthy communities by restoring whole, organic, and locally grown food to its place as the foundation of health, empowering youth, and connecting people in heart-centered ways to others and the earth.

Ceres Community Project's main program, Healing Meals for Healthy Communities, provides free and low-cost nourishing organic meals, nutrition education and caring support to people facing serious illness. All of the meals are prepared by teens that learn about growing, cooking, and eating healthy whole foods and the connection between diet and health, develop life and work-ready skills, and discover their power to make a difference. The Healing Meals Program improves healthy eating behaviors among clients, teens and adult volunteers and educates the whole community about the link between healthy eating and the health of both people and planet. It also strengthens the social fabric of the community, another factor that is at the root of health. In times of disaster, Ceres is an emergency nutrition provider for our community.

In addition to operating three program sites in Marin and Sonoma counties, Ceres has trained 12 communities nationally to replicate our model. We are also active at the state and national level in advocating for policies that support equitable access to healthy food and health care, including reimbursement for medically tailored meals by insurers. For more information, please visit www.ceresproject.org.

Ceres Community Project is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All employment decisions at Ceres are made without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin/ancestry, age, disability, marital & veteran status or any other status protected by laws or regulations.