Harvest Coordinator - $DOE

Background:
This project is developed by City Fruit and funded through a grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. City Fruit is an organization dedicated to promoting the value of urban fruit, neighborhood by neighborhood. Its advisory board includes members that are associated with leading organizations in Seattle including Solid Ground, Seattle Tilth, Seattle Tree Fruit Association, Phinney Neighborhood Association, and Seattle & King County Public Health.

We are dedicated to reducing wasted city-grown fruit, which is too often let to rot on the ground. We envision a time when members of the community will work together to optimize this resource—by growing healthier trees, harvesting their fruit, donating it, preserving it and—in future years—selling some of it to support the entire process. The coordinator will play a crucial role in our efforts to make this vision a reality.

Project description:
The coordinator will manage a fruit harvest in the Phinney neighborhood. The project will last six months, with the bulk of work completed from July through November. The final report will be submitted by May 2010. This is not a full time position; it is a part time contract job.

Duties
The coordinator will:
· expand our existing list of tree owners in the Phinney, Ballard and Greenwood neighborhoods who are interested in donating their fruit
· map public and private fruit trees in the Phinney neighborhood using our online mapping tool
· recruit and train additional harvest volunteers
· develop support infrastructure, including acquiring ladders, drop off locations and storage boxes
· organize volunteers to harvest each tree as it ripens and ensure that the fruit is delivered to organizations that can use it
· expand on our list of organizations that can use fruit by contacting neighborhood organizations that offer food to needy people and maintaining a list of such organizations
· document results including when each tree is harvested, the quality of the fruit that is harvested, the volume harvested and where the fruit is donated
· sell a portion of the fruit to local area restaurants
· organize workshops about pruning, thinning, pest prevention and canning
· work with consultant to help provide data for business plan
· work with consultant to develop more efficient ways to manage the fruit harvest
· submit final report summarizing the harvest
· handle paperwork required by the city

Qualifications:
· Experience managing volunteers
· Project management experience
· Community organization experience
· Demonstrated organizational skills
· Familiarity with XCEL and Word; ability to use Internet-based project management tools
· Ability to lift 40 pounds
· Washington driver’s license
· Ability to work under pressure
· Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously
· Experience working with a project based on a city grant

Preferred:
· Horticulture background or demonstrated interest in fruit trees
· Knowledge of food security issues and related organizations in Seattle

Compensation: DOE

Contact: Nancy Gohring, nangohring@yahoo.com