Online volunteer training now available!

Store To Door has been hard at work the last few months creating an online training for volunteers and we are happy to announce the training is now up and running!

This online training will be crucial to our ability to recruit to meet the demand of our growing client base. It makes the volunteer order taking position completely virtual, which will allow us to recruit volunteers from anywhere in the country. Additionally, it will help current volunteers who may have questions or need to be retrained on a specific task.

The training consists of ten videos. The first sections of the training are a universal orientation that can be used for anyone who is new to Store To Door, while the later sections are especially designed for volunteers training to take orders for our clients. This training is hosted on a new website that also gives volunteers access to important information and resources. It's an all-in-one site built exclusively for our volunteers!

For more information or to get involved today, contact us at 651-642-1892 ext 131.

Store To Door spreads the word

In the last two months, Store To door has done over 35 outreach events. These include health fairs, volunteer fairs, and presentations to many senior housing facilities and community groups. We consider fall an important time to spread the word about our service so people have the information on hand when more severe winter weather hits and they can no longer get to the store.

We couldn't participate in nearly as many events without our volunteer outreach committee. This important group of 11 people helps us increase capacity by giving presentations and spending time telling others about our service. Every single committee member has another volunteer role at Store To Door, as a shopper, order taker, or board member; their work on this committee is truly above and beyond and we appreciate it tremendously.

We are looking for a few more people to join us. If you're passionate about our mission and enjoy talking to others. please drop me a note.

Outreach committee members Robin Veal and Shirley Schimota at the Hands On Twin Cities volunteer fair.

Honoring volunteer Cate Wagner

Volunteer shopper Cate Wagner was recently honored with an Invest Northwest Award, presented by the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council. This award honors volunteers for their work in serving people in Northwest Hennepin County.

Cate has served as a volunteer shopper at the Crystal store for over 4 years. Cate has faithfully been there at 6am every week, typically multiple days a week, carefully shopping each order. Cate has gone above and beyond in helping out on extras days. More recently, we added a shopping day at the St. Anthony Cub store and Cate has been volunteering there each week in addition to 1-2 days a week serving in Crystal.

Cate is also the person responsible for some of the innovations that have streamlined the grocery shopping process for our volunteers. She developed the idea for the red and green flags we use during each shopping shift, and she handmade the flags for each store. She also came up with the idea for a new process to pick up deli items for clients that is being piloted at all five stores.

We were so pleased to be able to nominate Cate and we appreciate the Northwest Hennepin Human Services Council for recognizing Cate for her work with us!

Appreciation event success!

Last week, Store To Door hosted our annual appreciation event at Braemar Golf Club in Edina. This was the first year that we've had the event indoors and it was a good decision--the day was rainy, cold, and windy, but we were nice and warm inside the clubhouse! About 200 Store To Door supporters came out for a catered BBQ lunch, sponsored by Xcel, Comcast, and Cub Foods. Here are just a few pictures.

                                                                        Lots of cake!

                                                         Getting to know each other.

                                                       

    Crystal volunteer shoppers.

A great lunch catered by Classic Catering.

 

Marie Smith was presented with the Volunteer Recognition Award for her dedication as a shopper and outreach committee member.

                                          

Allan Rosenwald was presented with the Store To Door supporter of the year award for his continued support of Store To Door throughout the years.

Store To Door board chair Chuck Zimmerman addressing the crowd. Attendees also got to watch the new

                                                      Store To Door video produced this year.

 Thanks to all who came out and made it a wonderful day!



Become a SNAP volunteer!

Are you interested in getting to know your Store To Door clients better?

We're seeking a select small group of volunteers interested in helping clients sign up for SNAP (food support) benefits. Many of our current and potential clients are eligible for this support but need help signing up. Second Harvest Heartland will lead a training on Tuesday April 26th from 4:30-6:30pm at the Store To Door office. Volunteers will be trained to work one-on-one with current or new clients to enroll them for the SNAP benefit.

The SNAP application process is detailed, requiring patience and sensitivity to help our clients register. The commitment asked of SNAP volunteers is for a couple hours for the initial training and then a willingness to work more closely with clients (in their homes) to complete the paperwork, find and copy any necessary documents and then, work with the county on the client's behalf to become eligible. Following eligibility, the client would simply order every other week like other Store To Door clients. You could also continue your relationship with these clients as their Volunteer Order Taker if desired.

If you're interested in a deeper relationship with Store To Door clients and are willing to participate in this pilot effort, please contact us!

Store To Door featured on the Blogunteer!

Store to Door was recently featured on the Blogunteer. The Blogunteer is a website that profiles different organizations that are strongly supported by volunteers, and also highlights some volunteer heroes. We're happy to be profiled among many great organizations!

You can check out the blog and see the Store To Door posting at the link below.

http://blogunteer.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/store-to-door/

Thanks to Stacy Pearson for profiling us!

St. Anthony shoppers needed for new Friday shift

Good morning!

In a few weeks, we will be adding another shopping day to our St. Anthony store, to accomodate the many new clients and ease some of the strain on our other stores. We are currently looking for new shoppers (or current shoppers who would be willing to add a day on a temporary basis) at the St. Anthony Cub store (3930 Silver Lake Road) on Fridays.

If interested, please let me know!