North Texas Food Bank to employ hospitality industry workers displaced during coronavirus crisis
4:57 PM on Mar 19, 2020
The North Texas Food Bank has announced it is partnering with a flexible-work company to employ hospitality industry workers who have been left without income amid coronavirus-related restaurant and business closures.
The workers, who are being hired through the flex-work firm Shiftsmart, will fully replace traditional food bank volunteers starting Monday. Volunteer groups have been canceling their shifts in recent weeks, citing health and safety concerns.
The partnership, which may last several months, aims to provide income relief for displaced workers and help the food bank meet increasing demand for assistance, said Trisha Cunningham, North Texas Food Bank president and CEO.
“During times of uncertainty, it is important to come together to find a way to serve our neighbors in need,” Cunningham said in a prepared statement. “It will take innovation and collaboration to meet the needs for North Texans, and we expect these needs to continue to grow in the coming months."
The food bank will operate three four-hour shifts a day at the organization’s Plano warehouse. Workers will spend each shift packing meal boxes for distribution to food bank partners and will make $10 an hour.
Prospective workers must sign up through the Shiftsmart app on the Get Shift Done website. Positions will be filled on a first come, first served basis.
Shiftsmart will handle the scheduling of shift times. Shift requests will be approved by a manager through the app.
Wages, which will be distributed by Shiftsmart, will come through donations to the Get Shift Done for North Texas Fund at the Communities Foundation of Texas. Get Shift Done is a new nonprofit dedicated to helping hospitality industry workers who are out of work because of the pandemic. According to the nonprofit’s website, the organization will provide $250,000 in wages per week.
To ensure that the workplace remains clean, the food bank and Shiftsmart will screen workers for coronavirus symptoms. Strict guidelines for washing and sanitizing hands will be in place, Cunningham said. The shifts will consist of roughly 50 people who will be split into groups of no more than 10.
“We have to make sure we don’t shut down,” she said.
Cunningham said Thursday that workers could pack an estimated 60,000 packages per week. That number could change based on demand.
Food items being packed are being sourced from the North Texas Food Bank warehouse, Cunningham said. Once supply runs low, the food bank will begin relying on buying items themselves using donations from the community.
Details
To sign up for a shift, download the Shiftsmart app through Get Shift Done here.
To donate to the Get Shift Done for North Texas Fund: getshiftdone.org
