Food Pantry for Service Orientation

[klever]

Hello again,

I was looking to find an activity such as volunteering at a homeless shelter in order to help show my service orientation competency in addition to my assisted living volunteering.

I came across a position at a Food Pantry at a homeless shelter, and was wondering if this would be a good place to show this? A lot of this position is just sorting and organizing foods for the people living at the homeless shelter, and I would only get limited face to face interaction with them (as expected working in the food pantry). I was wondering if this was okay to show my service competency, or should I look at another position at another homeless shelter where I can get more face to face volunteering?

Thanks for any and all help I may receive.

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[Mr.Smile12]

Is this in addition to other responsibilities in the shelter? Is there any opportunity for face to face interaction? Can you give an example of the alternative?

The faculty I have worked with don't express a preference. You also have a lot of interaction with assisted living too. Food insecurity is a real burden to so many. The pandemic showed that even the help to sort food packages is essential to address the mission.

You are probably fine. I don't know what other positions you are looking at, but volunteers come and go while the need persists. I am guessing you may also perform other duties as needed in the shelter.

Added: I also think service orientation includes the intrinsic understanding that such essential roles are vital. You should not pick only those positions that benefit your application. The humility and respect to the unsung heroes like environmental/cleaning staff is often lost once you are a professional.

 

[klever]

Is this in addition to other responsibilities in the shelter? Is there any opportunity for face to face interaction? Can you give an example of the alternative?

The faculty I have worked with don't express a preference. You also have a lot of interaction with assisted living too. Food insecurity is a real burden to so many. The pandemic showed that even the help to sort food packages is essential to address the mission.

You are probably fine. I don't know what other positions you are looking at, but volunteers come and go while the need persists. I am guessing you may also perform other duties as needed in the shelter.

Added: I also think service orientation includes the intrinsic understanding that such essential roles are vital. You should not pick only those positions that benefit your application. The humility and respect to the unsung heroes like environmental/cleaning staff is often lost once you are a professional.

Thank you! The food sorting would be the main responsibility in the shelter, with little else, so not in addition. I haven't found an alternative yet, but this role has very limited face to face interaction it seems. So this position is fine given I have the other volunteering at the assisted living? Just these 2 roles are likely enough to show service orientation in non clinical volunteering (assisted living + pantry)?

Of course, I understand the importance of both roles and would be happy to do either: the food sorting in the pantry AND directly helping the residents face to face. This question of whether or not I should take this position instead of another is simply just where would my time be better spent for application building.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

In the absence of knowing your entire application profile including hours already banked, I don't see a problem.

 

[cj_cregg]

I think this would be a perfectly fine experience, although it would also be a good thing for your application and for your learning to have a chance to work directly with underserved populations like the homeless. However, perhaps this could be a foot in the door for more hands-on opportunities to volunteer with this agency.

 

[klever]

I think this would be a perfectly fine experience, although it would also be a good thing for your application and for your learning to have a chance to work directly with underserved populations like the homeless. However, perhaps this could be a foot in the door for more hands-on opportunities to volunteer with this agency.

Yea, that's a good idea. Kind of a bridge opportunity. Thank you for the idea!