Purple Porch Coop

Volunteering for your Co-op

There are many ways that you can donate your time and talents to your local food Co-op. Below is a brief description of several important tasks for which we are always seeking help. Please email the appropriate contact person with your interest and availability.

Changes

  1. Level 2 (Voting) Members who have completed 18 volunteer hours, will have their membership renewal fee waived for the following year.
    • We have been keeping track of these hours throughout the year.
    • If you would like to know your volunteer hours, you may email Brooke or stop by the check-out table at distribution to find out.
  2. We will start assigning volunteers to distribution dates in June 2010.
    • If you are, or wish to be, a Level 2 member (which includes voting privileges and the waiving of your renewal fee this year), then you will have to decide if you wish to fulfill your 18 volunteer hours through working distribution night, helping with the new location or through being on a committee or serving in another capacity. Contact Brooke.
    • If you choose to fulfill these hours through distribution, you will choose whether you want to work the 1st half, the 2nd half, or the whole of the night (4:30 – 7:30pm). And then you will be given your schedule. Please let Brooke know.
    • If you are unable to make it on your assigned day, it will be your responsibility to find someone to switch with. We will create a means by which Level 2 members can contact each other - TBA.

Other non-Distribution Volunteer Opportunities:

  1. A New Volunteer Coordinator. We are looking for someone who is willing to be trained to take over the role of the volunteer coordinator, so that I can eventually move onto other work that needs to be done within the Co-op. It is mainly an administrative role that needs regular email access and attention to details.
  2. An Event Coordinator. The spring and summer in Michiana is full of festivals and fun local events. We need someone who is going to work with the marketing team to help make sure the Purple Porch is staffing a table at the appropriate events throughout the year.
  3. Grant Writing. We are looking to form a small subcommittee of people who like researching grant possibilities and/or have experience applying for grants. Already we have had several grants passed on to the board and we need people who are capable of following up with these.
  4. Producer partners. We are hoping to pair every producer with a member who will be responsible for helping them with Co-op related needs, keeping track of their various certifications and qualifications, and generally making sure their needs are represented within the Co-op.

Distribution

Contact: Brooke Peterson (Volunteer Coordinator)
See the Volunteer Schedule to decide which weeks work for you.
As a volunteer-run food cooperative, we need 5 people EVERY week to help set up, run, and break down the food distribution on Wednesday evenings. Helping with distribution is a fun way to get involved with the Purple Porch Co-op, to get to know people in this community, and to help make a difference. You can sign up to volunteer the whole time (4:30-7:30) or for the first half (4:30-6pm) or second half (6-7:30pm) of the evening. If everyone signs up once every-other month, we can keep this remarkable food market running. Each week there will be a lead volunteer who oversees the evening and helps you with your roles. The necessary roles and responsibilities are:

  • Adjuster
  • Lead volunteer
  • Cashier
  • Welcome person
  • Floater
  • Setup
  • Breakdown

Committees

Marketing

Contact Paige Risser
Meeeting: Wednesday, Feb 17th during your work lunch break. Place TBA
As a growing cooperative, the Marketing committee is an integral part of helping us get the word out about the Purple Porch Co-op and helping maintain consistent communication to others about who we are. The marketing committee is in charge of:

  • Events: Deciding which events the Purple Porch Co-op should attend and spreading the word about these events.
  • Publicity: Deciding how to best advertise the Purple Porch Co-op and creating the materials needed for these advertisements, including radio, newspaper, brochures, fliers, etc.
  • Web usability: Working with the webmaster to decide what material should go on the website and making sure the website is usable and is consistent with our image.

Producer Relations

Contact: Chris Hebron
Recruiting and assisting farmers and other producers is imperative to keeping this food cooperative healthy and growing. The Producer Relations committee's responsibilities involve helping guide discussion about which potential producers are consistent with the vision of the cooperative, how to best help current Purple Porch Cooperative producers, and how to develop the producer-consumer relationship. Specific tasks for the committee include:

  • Farm tours: Organizing farm tours throughout the growing season for co-op members to see our producer's farms
  • Recruitment: Actively recruit farmers who meet the goals and vision of the cooperative, particularly seeking out local producers who provide products not currently being sold through the Purple Porch. 
  • Producer Questionnaires: Reviewing new producer questionnaires and deciding whether or not to accept new producers
  • Producer Guidelines: Advising the Board on necessary modifications to the guidelines - to help ensure that they are clear and meaningful - and that they are not contradictory to local laws.
  • Consumer Surveys: Creating and distributing surveys about current products for co-op members
  • Farmer support: Visiting farms to gain a familiarity with how they farm and what their unique farming goals and needs are. Communicating those needs to the co-op. Providing weekly support for farmers without Internet service.

Education and Service

Contact: Jessica Clark and Tim Bayer
Meets Feb 1st at Fiddler's Hearth at 6:30pm
As a food cooperative with a vision to change the local food system, education and service are key components to impact the greater Michiana area. This committee has two components. The first is to educate the public about healthy and ethical eating and food production, as well as give people in the Michiana area tools to eat locally and in-season. The second component is to help get this healthy, fresh food into the hands os a greater number of people across all income levels. Their responsibilities include:

  • Film series: Creating a film series on food choice for the winter months.
  • Recipes: Working with producers and consumer-members to provide recipes for how to cook with your local fresh food you buy at the Purple Porch Co-op.
  • “How to” series: Creating a series of workshops and demonstrations during the growing season on how to can, dehydrate, store, make various foods, etc.
  • Gleaners: Work with other local agencies to help coordinate gleaning efforts for farmers and gardeners who have excess food and want to get it into the hands of others quickly.
  • Donations: Create a way that producers can get a tax write-off for their donations, and work with local food banks and pantries to systemize ways to get this fresh, local food to these organizations.
  • Grant writing: Work with other organizations with a similar vision to apply for grants to help achieve these goals.

Membership & Volunteering

Contact: Chris Barwick & Brooke Peterson
Meets the 1st Friday of the month (Feb 4th) at 10am at Chris Barwick's house
The Membership committee is responsible for keeping track of Purple Porch Cooperative members, providing means for communication within the co-op, and coordinating volunteer opportunities and needs. Their tasks include: 

  • Development: Keeping track of membership and member information
  • Benefits: Overseeing membership benefits and fees. Keeping track of member volunteer hours.
  • Communication: Coordinating communication within the cooperative through the use of surveys, feedback forms, and emails. Helping use the website as an effective communication tool. Providing data entry and tech support for records wherever possible.
  • Volunteering: Working with the Volunteer coordinator to make sure members are aware of the needs within the cooperative and that these needs are being met.

Events

Contact: (no chairperson at this time)
The Event committee works with the Marketing committee and the Membership committee in preparing for and staffing events for the Purple Porch Cooperative. This committee only needs to meet when an event needs planning. the responsibilities include:

  • Planners: Planning for the needs of the event. Communicating with the Volunteer coordinator the needs of the events and how these can best be met.
  • Staffing: Helping with setting up and/or cleaning up and with general staffing of the event.
  • Possible events may include: EcoFest, Near Northwest Arts Café, WVPE Sustainability Fair, Earth Day, Other… 

Board of Directors

Contact: Tama Crisovan (Board President)
The Board of Directors consists of four officers: President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and three Directors (some may be more familiar with "at large").  Each of the officers hold two-year terms.  The three Directors each have three year terms and are staggered so that there is always one outgoing Director.
The Officers and Directors are nominated by the Cooperative and elected by the Cooperative at the annual membership meeting. 

  • Finances/Budget
  • Employee management
  • Long Range Planning