Harvest Intern

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Thank you for your interest in joining the Harvest Department of Portland Fruit Tree Project! Between June and November of 2017, the Harvest Department of PFTP will coordinate 80+ fruit tree harvesting events in and around the city of Portland. We will also be piloting two new program elements to empower even more neighbors to share in the harvest and care of fruit trees. The Harvest Intern will support these goals.

As a Harvest Intern, you will develop marketable, resume-building skills, and gain broad exposure to nonprofit program & event management in the world of sustainability and community-building. You will help out in the following areas:

• Training: attend one or both Harvest Leader trainings: June 22 nd (5-9PM) & June 24 th (1-5pm)
• Event leadership: lead a variety of harvest events in and around the city. This involves public speaking, group facilitation, driving our PFTP vehicles, and moving tools and equipment around.
• Site visits: drive our truck to check out and assess fruit trees that we are considering for harvest
• Event coordination: schedule events, create & publicize event registration pages, register and confirm events details with participants & volunteers, load and unload event vehicles
• Volunteer coordination: communicate and schedule Harvest Leaders for events and Fruit Monitors for site visits, via phone, email, and our database
• Data entry & program reporting: Enter event survey results, update event participant/volunteer information in our database.

Time Commitment:
This internship can be 3-months or 6-months long, depending on your availability. For the right candidate, we can be flexible on exact timing of start and end date, but it is ideal if we stick with the following start/end dates:

Summer: 15-25 hours a week, starting the week of June 12 th, through the week of Sept 18 th.
Summer-Fall: 12-20 hours a week, starting the week of June 12 th, through the week of Dec 11 th.

Location:
You would be working out of PFTP’s headquarters in NE Portland, but will have responsibilities that take you out of the office, especially during the June through October months.

Compensation:
This internship is unpaid, but the rewards are many: a great resume-building experience, references, and a unique opportunity to be a part of a pioneering organization.

What are we looking for?
We hope you will have familiarity and comfort with computers, including Gmail, MS Office Suite, Google Apps, etc. Ultimately though, PFTP will train you in all the practical skills, software, and databases needed to succeed in the Harvest Internship. In the end, we value qualities over skills when it comes to our interns:

• Attitude: We are a volunteer-driven grassroots nonprofit. We don’t have an endless budget, so we are endlessly creative, flexible, and adaptable. You must be comfortable with this.
• Physicality: This is an active internship. You must be able to move tools and many crates of fruit around, ascend a ladder (we’ll train you - don’t worry!), and intern in the rain.
• Communication: You enjoy connecting with other people, and aren’t afraid to step out of your comfort zone to reach out to new faces and new places.
• Curiosity: There’s a lot to know about fruit, and our various programs. We love it when you ask questions, and are enthusiastic about learning new things.
• Reliability: We spend a good amount of time making sure we are prepared and present to train and support interns. Your ability to be timely and committed to a schedule is important.
• Passion: We want to know you’ve taken some time to review our website, and feel a sense of commitment to the work that we do.

Driving & Vehicle Policy:
PFTP owns two trucks and a cargo van. Harvest Interns will need to drive these throughout the duration of their internship in order to complete site visits, go to/from events, and complete other errands. The ability to drive our vehicles is an essential part of this internship. Due to insurance requirements, applicants will need the following in order to be considered for this internship:

• Active car insurance (on your own policy or that of a family member/partner)
• At least 2 years of driving experience
• A valid Driver’s License