Organizational Overview: Food Forward fights hunger and prevents food waste by rescuing fresh surplus produce, connecting this abundance with people experiencing food insecurity, and inspiring others to do the same. Fruits and vegetables are collected in Los Angeles and Ventura counties from backyard fruit trees, orchards, farmers markets, and the downtown Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market. This recovered produce is provided, free of charge, to hunger relief organizations that serve community members in various ways: food banks, homeless outreach agencies, domestic violence shelters, transitional youth homes, veteran services, family resource centers, LGBTQ+ teen/adult/senior services, college student assistance programs, programs serving people with disabilities, and many more. Since Food Forward’s inception, our staff and thousands of dedicated volunteers have rescued 100’s of millions of pounds of fruits and vegetables. This produce helped feed millions of people across eleven Southern California counties, throughout seven states, and in tribal lands in the Southwest annually. See our core values posted below.

Position Overview: The Community Programs (CP) Intern will support and work with the Community Programs Department, which includes our Backyard Harvest, Farmers Market Recovery, and Volunteer programs. The CP Intern will gain hands-on experience in food recovery work by training and regularly leading farmer's market gleans and/or fruit harvests. The intern will also learn and participate in core CP tasks to grow our volunteer base and improve our food recovery programs. These tasks may include recruiting volunteers via online or in-person outreach, engaging with fruit donors and farm vendors, improving our volunteer experience, attending community events to spread the word about Food Forward’s work, working with our data in our custom software, restocking produce recovery needs, and more.

Interns Will Learn and Participate In:

• Hands-on experience with food security work in Southern California
• The ins and outs of working at a growing nonprofit
• Project management, strategic planning, and program development
• Event coordination and recruitment strategies
• Volunteer recruitment, coordination, and engagement strategies
• Community organizing and outreach methods
• Data entry and interfacing with custom software
• Writing for internal and external communication
• Communication and presentation skills
• Seasonality of locally grown produce and fruit trees

Minimum Requirements:

• Able to work in Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Sheets, etc.)
• Comfortable with lifting 40-pound boxes of fruit/vegetables
• Comfortable working outside
• Comfortable working with and speaking to people from various backgrounds in multiple ways: via email, phone, and in person
• Valid driver's license and reliable access to a vehicle
• Access to a computer
• Willingness and availability to work weekends

CORE VALUES

• COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Working together, we inspire and are inspired by the people in the communities we serve.
• EQUITY AND INCLUSION We cultivate a diverse workforce that nurtures equity and inclusion.
• FOOD JUSTICE We share the abundance of fresh produce and prevent food waste because everyone deserves access to fresh and nutritious food.
• INTEGRITY We are honest, accountable and authentic in our words and actions.
• JOYFULNESS We embrace a creative, spirited and fulfilling environment.