FFEN is expanding the way it offers tools, resources and support to food shelves.
The FFEN Resource Hub is an online home that now contains a myriad of self-serve guides food shelves can use when they’re facing challenges or looking for ways to better their operations. These tools are based on best practices gleaned from work with hundreds of food shelf leaders and can be used to create consistent processes and procedures.
The addition of self-serve resources is a strategic move to respond to the rising demand for FFEN services. The Hub allows food shelves to choose the level of support they need, and create a space where sector learnings can be centralized and shared.
Topics cover everything from deciphering the nuances between “best by” dates, “sell by” dates and “quality assurance” dates to merchandising inside the food shelf.
Quinn Schollett oversees the food shelf at Northpoint Health & Wellness Center.
“The resource guides provide consistent training and guidance to our volunteers and staff so each person is properly trained and using the best practices,” she said.
The Hub also offers a link to schedule 45-minute live calls with FFEN staff for food shelf leaders in need of expert, real-time solutions to challenges and questions.
Andrea Gressman, a food shelf consultant with FFEN, said the live calls can be an opportunity to get fast answers and additional resources and sometimes, food shelf leaders reach out that way to talk about getting more in-depth support from FFEN.
She said she’s had discussions morph from a simple “get help with funding” call to instead, a call about how food shelf operations actually need to change to meet the needs of the community.
Gressman said the calls are a way to meet a food shelf where it is at and determine if there are other ways the site could engage with FFEN to make change.
