This month’s Crew profile will feature Volunteer Services.

This department manages all the volunteers that come to Harvest every day to sort, pack, and deliver food to more than 325 agencies and food banks in the province.

“We currently have 1,132 generous volunteers who donate their time to Harvest,” said Mika Peterson, Senior Manager of Volunteer Services. “We have an incredibly diverse volunteer team at Harvest- everyone is welcome to volunteer! We have kids as young as five that volunteer with us on Family Days, students who come with their schools or universities, all the way to seniors that come with their grandkids or social groups.”

Things have changed for Volunteer Services since the COVID pandemic. Mika said the change was dramatic as it changed how the department’s operations were handled.

“The pandemic has changed our operations drastically, including rearranging our entire warehouse and changing our volunteer shifts. We have had to make changes to make sure we can feed our communities while keeping our volunteers safe. As our environment changes, our
operations change with it and we keep the safety and well being of our volunteers as top priority.”

COVID measures were put in place to protect volunteers and staff. All volunteers and staff are required to sanitize their hands upon arrival, show proof of full vaccination status, wear a mask at all times, and socially distance during their shift.

One of the challenges that Volunteer Services faces now, according to Mika, is the drop in volunteers.

“Some of the challenges we face is fluctuating levels of volunteers. Each day we need over 100 volunteers to ensure we can pack the hampers we need. Some days we have our shifts filled and some days we are a little bit
below our target. The more volunteers we can have applying and booking shifts throughout the week the better!”

As the new head of the department, Mika will implement some changes such as, a new software system that will make it easier for volunteers to apply, do online training, and booking shifts easily.

“Additionally, we are always trying to make our warehouse more efficient and accessible. We will continue modifying our workstations over time and implementing special volunteering days such as Family Days for families with young children and Sensory Nights with low light and sound levels for anyone who prefers this to the regular hustle and bustle of the Harvest warehouse.”