Internship Program
Background:
Caritas of Port Chester offers volunteer internship programs for high school and college students. Each position requires a minimum two-week commitment and teams may include up to six people.
While working with Caritas, the variety of intern objectives include: learning how to operate a non-profit organization; and learning all aspects of a community dining facility (soup kitchen) and choice food pantry. At the end of each two-week program, interns will participate in a team self-evaluation and critiquing session before being awarded a certificate of completion. In addition to community service credits, student interns will obtain practical business experience which we hope will help them in their future careers.
Intern Responsibilities
1) Operational Analyst
a. Inventory Management – Tracking aging and remaining inventory after a meal and/or distribution.
b. Cost Analysis – Tracking cost per individual statistics and identifying opportunities to lower costs.
c. Process Improvement – Seeking opportunities to streamline flows and improve the overall customer experience.
2) Planning
a. Receiving – Deciding what to request from donor food drives, taking into account unknown and unscheduled donations.
b. Purchasing – Evaluating what additional food to buy based on needs, storage capacity, production capacity and shelf-life.
c. Resource Management – Balancing volunteers and workloads.
3) Customer Service
a. Environment – Set up and maintenance of the customer-facing operation.
b. Engagement – Preparing and serving meals; assisting shoppers; resolving problems; addressing needs; and providing positive interaction for a beneficial customer experience.
4) Team Building
a. Working as a team.
b. Making decisions as a team.