Community Food Bank Desk

Start here: how this workspace runs

Stock

Every kind of food and supply on the shelves, with how much is left and when it expires.

Donations

Food and supplies arriving from grocers, drives, farms and neighbors.

Distribution days

Each day the doors open: where, how many volunteers, how many households and how many pounds went out.

Households

Registered households with size and visit dates, kept minimal and respectful.

Partner agencies

Shelters, senior sites and school programs that pick up food from you.

What lives where

The week

Your rhythm

Dignity first

Ask families only what your program needs. Keep the household list private. Let people choose their food where you can; a client-choice table wastes less food and feels better to everyone.

Making it yours

Rename sites, neighborhoods and stock categories to match your pantry, and delete the sample rows once your own are in. Type in any cell or drag cards between columns; every total updates by itself.

Reports for funders

Most funders ask for the same four numbers: households served, people served, pounds distributed and the value of donated food. The Dashboard charts and the Distribution days and Donations tables give you all four; filter them to the month or quarter you report on.

The pantry at a glance. Charts read the live tables.

Stock that needs ordering

Best-by dates in the next 7 days

Distribution days this week

How to read the numbers

Pounds given out by site

Donations by source

Before it arrives

At the door

Thanking donors

Thank every donor the same week. The In-kind value on each donation (pounds times a per-pound rate) gives grocery partners and food drives a number for their own reports; adjust the rate in the formula to match your regional food bank's figure. Large donors get a letter with the total for the year.

Shelving

First in, first out: new stock goes behind older stock. Write the soonest best-by date on the stock line so the Dashboard shows what to give out first. Produce and dairy go out at the next distribution day.

Example

On Tuesday morning the grocer pickup arrives: 340 pounds of canned vegetables, bread and yogurt. A volunteer weighs each type, finds two bulging cans and discards them, checks the yogurt at 38 F, and marks the donation received. The canned vegetables line moves back to Well stocked, and the yogurt goes straight to the cooler for the afternoon distribution.

Volunteers on receiving

Pair a new volunteer with someone experienced for their first two shifts. Lifting rules: bend the knees, two people for anything over 40 pounds, and never stack higher than shoulder height.

The day before

Setup, an hour before doors open

Check-in

During distribution

Closing

Example

At the Tuesday evening distribution, 96 households come through in two hours with eight volunteers. The team gives out 2,310 pounds, about 24 pounds per household. Canned protein runs low by the end, so the day lead adds it to the next wholesale order.

Temperatures

Storage

Handling

Dates

Best-by dates are about quality, not safety, for most shelf-stable food. Use your regional food bank's guide. Baby formula is never given out past its use-by date. When in doubt, throw it out.

Recalls

When a recall notice arrives, search Stock and Donations for the product, pull every unit, and record what you removed. If any went out, contact the households who received it if you can.

Allergies

Leave food in its original packaging so the label travels with it. Never repack bulk food without writing the ingredients on the new bag.

Example

A volunteer notices the walk-in cooler reads 46 F at the start of the Thursday shift. The day lead moves dairy and produce to the backup fridge, calls the repair company, and checks the log: the reading was 39 F at close the night before, under four hours ago by the door alarm, so the food is kept. The repair is written in the log.

Training

Every volunteer reads this page and signs the shift log. Leads take a food-handler course once a year.