OzHarvest, Australia's leading food rescue organisation, has just launched in Tasmania and is looking for fresh faces to help nourish the Launceston community!

Every day across the country, our teams collect tonnes of quality excess food that would otherwise go to waste from supermarkets, bakeries, wholesalers and caterers. This food is then redistributed to a number of local charities providing assistance to vulnerable people in our communities. Our food rescue and relief services are completely free of charge to both donors and recipient charities. Our regular and free food deliveries to charities enable them to provide crucial food relief services while reducing their food spending and redirecting vital funding into education, rehabilitation and other services.

Each week, we prevent tonnes of good food from going to landfill - which in turn prevents tonnes of warming gases entering our atmosphere. By preventing quality food from being wasted, we're valuing this essential resource, we're nourishing our planet and fighting climate change, and we're nourishing our community with nutritious, quality, surplus food.

We've just started our food rescue operations in Launceston, so are taking expressions of interest for Volunteer Food Rescue Assistants to ride along in the passenger seat and assist our Food Rescue Driver in collecting surplus food from the food industry, checking it for quality, and distributing it, same day, to local charities who provide food relief to vulnerable people in our community. This is a physically demanding but rewarding role which involves getting in and out of our vehicles and repeatedly lifting crates of produce into and out of the vehicle.

SUITABLE APPLICANTS WILL HAVE:

• Strong communication skills
• A reasonable level of physical fitness – lots of lifting is involved
• Reliability and ability to commit to a regular shift
• Ability to complete online Manual Handling and Safe Food Handling modules and willingness to learn how to use our food collection phone app
• A team-oriented approach
• A positive, flexible, can-do attitude
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Understanding the sensitive issues faced by vulnerable people connected to the charities we service
• Availability for a 5-7 hour shift on weekdays during business hours

BENEFITS TO YOU OF VOLUNTEERING WITH OZHARVEST:

• A sense of contribution by helping us to protect our planet and meet our national goal of halving food waste by 2030
• Personal fulfilment to helping us provide nourishing food to those facing food insecurity while also helping reduce greenhouse gases produced by food waste
• Being part of a dynamic supportive team of staff and volunteers working toward a common goal

THE ROLE WILL INCLUDE:

• Assisting the driver in the physical collection of food from donors which requires frequently and repeatedly lifting crates of produce (crates can often be around 15kg in weight)
• Actively following Food Safety and Manual Handling Guidelines while weighing and loading rescued food into the van as well as unloading and distributing the food to charitable agencies
• Weighing donated food and assisting the driver to log details of volume/type of food collected in our smart phone app
• Assisting in unloading and distribution of food to recipient agencies
• Liaising with food donors, recipient charities, and fellow OzHarvest drivers and volunteers
• Being an Ambassador for OzHarvest and represent us in a positive manner in all dealing with donors, recipient charity staff and clients, and the general public.
• Other volunteering roles may arise from time to time, including community events/market stalls, fundraising, and education roles.