Tweaks

My first impression upon arriving at Food For Greater Elgin in January as both a ‘mystery guest’ and then interim executive director, was in how well our various systems operated. Granted, there is nothing that can’t be done a little better, and a lot of the ways we do things depend crucially on the people who are doing them, but by in large we work pretty well. However, there are nagging problems that call for some tweaks to the system. 

Here’s are some new things we’re doing:

• Handicapped persons (those with a handicapped sticker on their car or who can otherwise prove their disability) will no longer be required to wait in line, which can be physically difficult. Instead, they may simply go inside at a quarter after the hour before we open. Many people with handicaps were coming early to distributions and mentally ‘claiming’ spots that they then took when we opened, which created conflicts with those who had been waiting outside. We hope this solution will rectify the situation.
• The first 30 families in line will receive their numbers randomly so that no one gets an advantage by arriving first.
• Our guests are now allowed to bag their groceries as they move through the warehouse rather than waiting until the end. Volunteers often remind people (over and over again!) to take one item where the sign says ‘Limit 1,’ but this change has greatly sped up the line.
• One of the challenges of being a leader for an organization like FFGE is to be in touch with those whom we serve, and to be a means of communication between them and our donors of money, food and time. To that end, a new part of my role as interim executive director will be to greet our guests outside during the time when many are waiting for us to open (also minimizing the cutting in line problem).
• Along with that, in March we will convene advisory groups during each distribution to listen to our guests and learn how we can serve them better.

Do you have other ideas for ways we might tweak our operation?  Please let me know! Email me here.

Sincerely,

Michael Montgomery
Interim Executive Director