Year: 2023
Partner School: University of Houston
Community Partner: Houston Food Bank
Category: Food Insecurity
Problem: The Houston Food Bank (HFB) mobilizes and empowers community members by providing volunteer opportunities within the organization, which is committed to feeding communities. The HFB is the United States' leading facility in distribution, serving 18 counties in South Houston where there are more than 1 million food-insure individuals (1 in 8 households).
The organization struggled with inefficiencies in volunteer processing, low volunteer numbers and return rates, and low youth volunteer engagement, and was seeking solutions for all of these.
Solution: To address the inefficiencies in volunteer processing, the winning team pitched an efficient and inclusive orientation experience for volunteers by way of a three-minute looping orientation video. This video would dedicate one minute to each of the most prominent volunteer stations (warehouse, kitchen, and teacher's aid). These videos would be filmed top-down, allowing volunteers to understand how to perform their volunteer tasks in an easy-to-understand way.
After a volunteer spent time at the HFB, they would receive an automated email that would encourage them to fill out Google Form to offer feedback on their session, and allow them to be sent reminder emails and other correspondence. This would assist in the HFB's goal of retaining volunteers.
To increase the volunteer base, the winning student team proposed prioritizing the volunteering efforts of a different group each month throughout the calendar year, such as reaching out to Black civic organizations in February.
In order to target younger volunteers, the winning team proposed a Volunteer Month, an outreach program aimed at local high schools as well as local colleges and universities. They also pitched a Summer Volunteer Program for young people, which could either be a remote internship position focused on data collection, or an in-person volunteering program at the food bank.