Company description

South Whidbey Good Cheer Food Bank and Thrift Stores addresses hunger and need in our community through numerous channels. Our food bank serves an average of 800 families a month; our food bank gardens and donors provide fresh, local food to food bank clients; and our two thrift stores sell locally donated, high-quality, and still-usable house and kitchen wares, clothing, shoes, electronics, books, crafts, and furniture at a fraction of retail price. What is more, all three components of our organization serve as a space for community members—young and old—to not only participate in community building through volunteering, but also to relate to one another; learn from each other; and cultivate a greater sense of belonging.

Good Cheer manages three distinct growing spaces that equate to a little more than 1.5 acres. These spaces include a robust vermicompost project, four hoop houses, 26 fruit trees, and many row feet of annual vegetables and fruit. All of the produce grown on site is either given away to our food bank shoppers, or delivered to the school cafeterias.

Aside from addressing the physical aspects of hunger and need, Good Cheer offers a social context in which people understand that being in community means asking for and giving help, which, in turn, sustains community growth and development. Our Fresh Food on the Table Program, which encompasses Good Cheer Food Bank’s multi-pronged efforts, increases local produce in the community, and diverts food from the waste-stream by processing and preserving blemished and/or excess produce.

Job description

Purpose: Work alongside Good Cheer staff and volunteers to create better access to local food in our community by managing the overall garden systems and co-managing the Fresh Food on the Table project with the Produce Manager.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage the Good Cheer Garden
  • Manage the ½-acre garden space in front of the food bank, the greenhouse and hoop houses, and our composting operations
  • Coordinate and support volunteers and service learning groups
• Manage the Big ACRE, a 1-acre growing space focused on production of winter and storage crops, adjacent to the food bank. The Big ACRE provides produce to the school cafeterias.
  • General farm labor
    • Soil and compost management
    • Irrigation
    • Cultivation
    • Harvest
  • Coordinate with school to grow and harvest food for the cafeterias
  • Keep equipment in good running order
• Oversee management of the Bayview Garden, an ⅛ acre satellite garden that the Grow Whidbey apprentice eventually takes responsibility of
  • Support the apprentice in moving into a leadership role
  • Manage the garden in the off-season when there is no apprentice
• Manage Grow Whidbey Apprentice(s), and UW Intern when applicable
• Write and manage the overall garden budget
• Keep detailed records of volunteers and farm and garden work
• Outreach via social media, community events, and regional conferences
• Work with the Executive Director and other staff on grant writing and fundraising
• Collaborate with other local and regional organizations

Required Experience:

• Minimum of two years of vegetable farm or garden work
• Minimum of one year experience in working with/coordinating volunteers, or managing workers

Other Applicable Experience:

• Fundraising
• Budgeting
• General non profit work and/or project management
• Experience working with food banks
• Landscaping
• Basic carpentry and construction knowledge
• Experience in wordpress, social media, and excel
• Teaching

Compensation

this position is: salaried, less than $50,000

Work visa

This employer is willing to sponsor a work visa for international applicants

Application instructions

Deadline

October 31, 2017