Coordinator Duties and Responsibilities

The success of the potlucks depends on those that generously volunteer their time and talents to making sure the potlucks run smoothly and ensuring our hosts are well taken care of.  If you are interested in becoming a co-coordinator for a potluck, these are the tasks (they look a bit more daunting than they actually are!).

A.  Check Supplies Before the Potluck

Review the contents of the coordinator box and to see if any items are below the minimum amounts listed on the lid of the coordinator box. If anything is below the minimum amount shown, call Joan Feinberg (510) 451-1122, the keeper of the “excess” supplies, to see if she has a supply. If not, she will purchase and bring to the next event. Please don’t buy any supplies yourself. Exception: If the weather is warm, please purchase ice, and make sure that host has an ice chest.  Please reimburse yourself from the kitty.

B.  Potluck Set-Up

Arrive between 11:00-11:30 a.m. to take care of set-up, which includes the following:

• • Post signs outside the house to identify the EBF&P location (and to prohibit smoking)
  • Post a sign showing where cases are to be stored.
  • Post a sign (if applicable) stating where parking is prohibited or allowed.
  • Post a sign indicating the location of each bathroom and a sign on the door of each room that is off-limits.
  • Ask the host/hostess if any other signs are needed.
  • Place a container of hand soap, a roll of paper towels, and a roll of toilet paper in each bathroom
  • Identify trash containers and recycling containers with appropriate signs, and line with trash bags.
  • Arrange tables or counters on which food is to be placed. Lay out plastic flatware, plates, cups, napkins, corkscrew, and money collection cans.
  • Lay out the mailing list forms near the food table or at some other appropriate place.

C.  Periodic Checks

Every 2 hours or so during the Potluck do the following:

• • Circulate with donation cans or ask somebody else to do so. (The 50¢ donations for supplies are what keep the potlucks going.)
  • Place additional supplies (plates, cups, flatware) on the food tables, if necessary.
  • Remove used plates, forks, etc. from food table, and discard or recycle. Remove empty food containers to the kitchen. Wash empty dishes and reusable plastic utensils and those serving utensils belonging to the Potluck
  • Check bathroom(s) for a supply of soap and paper goods.
  • Notify host of any problems.

D.  Potluck End Time

Check with host around 4:45 pm to find out when he/she wants the event to end. The official time is 5:00 pm, but many hosts allow music to continue longer.

E. Cleanup

Regardless of whether the host will allow music after 5:00, begin cleanup slightly before 5:00 while there are sufficient people to help, and so the box can be given to the next coordinator if he/she wants to leave at 5:00.

1. 1. Place any receipts in the can with the donations. If you have purchased ice, you may either reimburse yourself with money from the can (in which case write your name and “Paid from collection can” on the receipt), or else write your name, address and phone number on the receipt so that Joan Feinberg (the treasurer) can mail you a reimbursement check.
   2. Joan Hall Feinberg takes the money from the cans, and arranges for the funds to be deposited. If she has not yet taken the money at the time you’re packing up, find her so that she can do so. In the unlikely instance that she appears to have left, please count the money, call Joan (cell: 510-853-7826) and tell her the amount, pocket the money, and leave your phone number so she can contact you to arrange for the funds to be deposited in the bank.
   3. Do a final clearing of the table, placing uneaten food in the kitchen. No food should be left at the coordinator’s house unless you ask and they say they’ll use it. Most people will take home their leftovers in the original dish; give away leftover food or take it home yourself.
   4. Collect unused supplies and reusable signs and return them to the coordinator box.
   5. Locate one of the next month’s coordinators to let him/her know that the coordinator box is ready to take. In the unlikely instance that neither are there or both appear to have left, locate the next month’s host and ask them to take it. If next month’s host isn’t there either, take the coordinator box with you and contact the following month’s coordinators. It is their responsibility to pick it up from you.

F. Notify Host

Notify host of the status of the cleanup and that you are leaving. Ask host if everything is OK.

Revised 10/24/22