Tracking & Organization

Tracking and Organizational Needs

Tracking

What tracking system is used for the meals distributed?

A Clipboard with an attached pencil hangs from a 3M Command hook on our freezer door. On this clipboard is a Meals Taken Sign Out sheet, which records whether meals are going to a member or non-member and the need for the meal: sympathy, surgery, recovery, rehab, delivery of a baby, hospice, broken bone or broken heart, new job, loss of job, new house, relocation, financial crisis, chemotherapy, college or chaos.

Why may it be necessary to track where the meals are going and to what situations?

This information is useful when we request grants from outside of our church and when we

present our budget needs for the next year to the Church Council and the Missions Team. Yearly

we need to show to Church Council and the Missions Team how many people we serve, how

many non-members we serve and how much church fellowship this ministry brings to church

community as well.

Why may it be necessary to track who attends each cooking and assembly sessions?

The number of volunteers and involvement in the ministry is needed when we request grants

and report to the Church Council and Mission Team We are also able to measure our

community outreach by how many non-members come to help us at our cooking and assembly

sessions.

Why may it be necessary to track the financials by individual cook session as well as year to date summary?

We track the financials by cook session so that we can determine if certain cook sessions are too cost prohibitive, to show us areas where we need to look for ways to save money, and so that we have the back-up information for our yearly summary report. This is also used to reimburse individuals for their costs when shopping for items.
We track the financials in a yearly summary format so that we have the necessary financial information easily available when we need to file a grant or present to the Church Council or Mission Team for our next year budget requirements. The yearly format also helps us know when we need to seek out additional funding for our ministry.

Organization Needs

Where does the ministry store all of the ministry related documents so that multiple team members can access?

We use Dropbox to store all of our documents.
We have a separate Dropbox folder for the Meals Do Matter National ministry and for Trinity’s Meals Do Matter ministry.
Team Members can also access the Meals Do Matter website in order to get ready for cook sessions.

How are copies of Recipes, Assembly Directions and Assembly Layouts stored?

We keep copies of all the documents needed for the Cook Sessions in a 3 ring binder with each page in a protector page so they don’t get messy at a cook session and can be reused.

Where are the Food Items and Packaging Items Supplies stored?

Food Items:

We store dry goods supplies like spices and cooking spray in a lidded plastic container.
We store leftover items that can be frozen, like minced garlic, butter, cheese, almonds, extra frozen vegetables and ground meat, in our spare dedicated freezer.

Packaging Items:

We store Ziploc bags, metal & plastic containers, measuring cup & spoons, spatulas, knives, can openers, latex gloves, hair nets and permanent markers in a large lidded plastic container.
We store pre-printed labels in an accordion file since we usually have extras leftover from cook sessions. These help to make up our need to “have more on hand”.
The person responsible for printing labels keeps blank labels at her home.

What Standardized items exist for us to use?

Financials