July 2016
Choice enhances pantry visit for clients
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rocery shopping can be a time consuming hassle that people gripe about having to do. This modern convenience is often taken for granted. But what if you walked into the grocery store and were handed a bag of food the store thought your family should be eating, rather than getting to select the food that best suits your needs? Would you feel grateful and empowered, or would you feel disrespected and humiliated? Some clients may face this scenario each time they visit their local pantry. Client choice models of food distribution are proven to improve morale among staff and volunteers, as well as minimize food waste by clients. It can even help reduce the cost of running your pantry. Did you know that over one third of Ozarks Food Harvest’s member pantries are currently operating as client choice? When using the model to let clients choose their own food, some agencies use a closet-sized space, while others use warehouses big enough for clients to push shopping carts through. Giving your clients a choice can be as simple as handing them a list of available pantry items for them to select during the check-in process. Bob Ham, pantry manager at Salvation Army-Community Outreach Ministries in Bolivar, shared reasons for making the switch to become a client-choice pantry. “We think it just makes the process fair for the clients,” Ham said. “We want to be more
IN THIS ISSUE
A WORKER AT THE HELPING HANDS FOOD PANTRY IN EAGLE ROCK HELPS A CLIENT CHOOSE FOOD FROM THE SHELVES. UTILIZING A CLIENT CHOICE MODEL EMPOWERS CLIENTS AND STAFF.
client-minded and this is the perfect way to do that.” The pantry began the client choice method on July 1. Staff and volunteers worked hard to get the space organized for clients to shop the shelves. The motivation to convert pantries to client choice is necessitated by the growing number of families with dietary and allergy restrictions. Many pantries have learned that serving clients should no longer be a one size fits all process. For some, a jar of peanut butter and a bag of flour might be well received, while another family might not be
able to eat those items. While the idea to become client choice might be an easy decision to make, Ozarks Food Harvest knows that the majority of obstacles are found in the preliminary stages of planning. The Member Services Department at OFH is working to provide as much information about client-choice distributions as possible through the use of best practices that are currently being used by other agencies. To receive more information, or to see client choice pantry in action, contact Member Services today.
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