Show:
Da Rules
Client Eligibility
Dinner Time
Food Storage
Fair is Fair
100
What is the document used to record the number of eligible clients at a pantry?
Signature sheets
100
Can you ask clients for identification?
Yes. Allow pantries to require ID for clients, but only if every client is checked every time they come to the pantry.
100
What do soup kitchens and shelters need to report to the food bank monthly?
The number of meals it served that month.
100
Your volunteers are stacking cases of beef stew on the floor close to the bags to save time. How do you handle this?
Explain that food must be at least 6 inches off the floor and elevated high enough to allow for proper pest control and ventilation.
100
One of your volunteers is also a client. You’ve noticed that while other clients are not allowed to choose what foods they get, this volunteer picks and chooses when she packs her own box. Thinking about that one, you decide:
Everyone has to be treated equally, so she will have to take the same food as any other client.
200
When are monthly service reports due?
The 3rd business day of the month.
200
How often can a client visit your commodity pantry?
At least once every 30 days.
200
What local governing body sets rules for meal programs?
Besides, Foodbank, USDA and DHS, agencies must abide by rules and standards set forth by local health departments.
200
What temperature should your refrigerator be kept?
Refrigerated foods must be kept between 35 and 40 degrees.
200
Your pastor would like your pantry to express the church’s caring by asking you to have all clients read a Bible verse and pray before receiving food. What should you do?
Explain to your pastor that you can not give anyone the impression that getting food is dependent upon participating in a faith experience, even if he means well.
300
In the summer and fall, your area sees an influx of seasonal workers. These folks are plainly not permanent residents in your service area. How do you handle this?
Have them sign the signature sheets and give them food. They don’t need to be permanent residents to be eligible.
300
Your senior client, John, signs the signature sheet and puts a check mark in the TANF box because he would like to be eligible to receive additional TANF food. What do you do?
Remind John that TANF is only for households with kids aged 18 years or younger. Verify that John is a single adult living alone, and then explain that he is not eligible for the TANF food program.
300
What information needs to be posted at soup kitchens?
1. The meal schedule. 2. "And Justice for All".
300
How about the freezer? What's the acceptable temperature for the freezer?
Frozen foods must be stored at a temperature below 0 degrees.
300
Jessica comes to your pantry with five proxies, all of which are completed correctly. She explains that she is picking up food for some elderly folks in her building. How do you handle this?
Pulling five bags of food for her five clients and thanking her for helping.
400
Your pantry’s financial support comes primarily from your town, but you notice that clients come from all over your county. How do you manage this?
If resources are tight you may limit the area served but, the entire county is your service area unless you have a service area plan approved by both DHS and your Food Bank.
400
Joe is acting as a Proxy for someone who cannot come to the pantry themselves. If Joe is also income eligible for USDA Commodities, how should the pantry worker/volunteer handle that?
Have Joe fill out his own line on the regular Emergency Food Program Signature Sheet while he is at the pantry and give him his food.
400
How do you determine eligibility of clients at a soup kitchen or shelter?
There is no need to determine eligibility. Anyone eating at a soup kitchen or shelter is assumed to be eligible for service. Clients must not be asked to prove eligibility.
400
You notice grain beetles in the pantry. One of the volunteers said he just sprayed insecticide in there last week? What should you do?
Ask about the pest control system and contact them. Sites must have a qualified person on staff or contract with a professional exterminator.
400
Shirley comes to your pantry and wants to pick up food for her mother’s household, but she does not have a signed Proxy form for that food. What should your pantry worker/volunteer do?
Give Shirley a Proxy form for her mother and explain that you cannot give her the food until you have the form filled out.
500
How often does a commodity pantry need to be open?
2 hours per week
500
A volunteer tells you that she saw your client, Charles, in line at a different commodity pantry getting food last week, and that it is not fair for him to get food from both places. What is aa acceptable response to this situation?
Serve Charles just like any other client and explain to your volunteer that not only is information about clients confidential but that there is also no rule against clients visiting multiple commodity pantries in their service area during a given month.
500
A volunteer, who is also a board member, suggests that the shelter can save money by using some of the commodities to reduce the meal cost at the annual fund raising dinner. How do you respond?
Explain to your board member that under contract you are always required to give out commodities to eligible clients only, so you will have to save money some other way.
500
You have no idea what to do with the pork patties you received through EFP. What can you do?
Contact Northern Illinois Food Bank's Community Kitchen for serving suggestions or recipes.
500
Your agency has other low-income programs besides the Emergency Food Program, and they require verification of income eligibility levels. How do you handle commodity distribution?
Have them sign for the commodities first, then go through the other verification processes for the other programs … as long as this does not disrupt commodity distribution.