SLS: Multicultural Pantry Program Assistant or Student Engagement Assistant with Clay Street Table (2025-26 school year)

Clay Street Table's mission is to provide direct service meals and food pantry events that empower youth and adults to be volunteers in service, addressing hunger & houselessness by alleviating food insecurity for some 3500 hungry people in Portland. 

This position is one of the options for Portland State's Student Leaders for Service program. Please apply to the Student Leaders for Service program to express interest in this opportunity. To access the application to apply for SLS for the the 2025-26 school year, please visit https://pdx.givepulse.com/event/590919

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Formerly known as St. Stephen’s Table, our meals program and food pantry have become a major source of food for those experiencing poverty and homelessness in our southwest neighborhood of downtown Portland, just down the park blocks from PSU. The roots of our program date back 30 years, to a small group of women from St. Stephen’s Parish who made sandwiches for those living on the street. Today, that project has developed into an established organization with more than 100 volunteers drawn from the parish and other churches, schools, colleges, civic groups, and the community we serve.

While located in a church building, the program requires no attendance at or participation in any religious activity to receive food or be included in the Table community. Clay Street Table is a non-sectarian, nonprofit organization housed at First Christian Church in Portland.

Roles for a Student Leader for Service include include serving as a Pantry Program Assistant or a Student Engagement Assistant:

1. Multicultural Pantry Program Assistant: Prepare for pantry events, move and monitor food stock, plan pantry distribution, prepare signage for multicultural community, orient and assist volunteers, support intentional outreach to groups, corporate volunteer teams, civic & social organizations to fill volunteer vacancies, and build volunteer capacity using a variety of tools including social media.
   
   

2. Student Engagement Assistant: Support high school student leaders in recruiting and leading their peers in weekly volunteer projects for our multicultural pantries, Sunday lunch, and grocery delivery programs; support our Community Conversations project where high school groups engage in meaningful conversations with houseless neighbors to help inform our direct service activities; support the advance planning for the 2026 high school summer intensives.

Both of these positions are integral to helping Clay Street Table build a caring community and feeding hungry people, and demonstrate our mission in action offering the rewarding dynamic of building community with diverse groups. Clay Street Table uses a community-building philosophy and approach in all that we do.  We use a collaborative style that fosters a sense of welcome and inclusion and encourages students to take ownership of their activities and projects.  Students will have the support of their Supervisors and access to our entire team to help inform their work and be successful during their service with us.

Come be a key part of our team working alongside volunteer teams comprised of community members who receive services, allies who support our service approach, and high school students exploring their own skills development and career pathways.

Modality: The majority of both positions will be in-person, on-site service opportunities.  There may be an opportunity for a limited amount of remote work such as responding to emails and communications posts.

Skills and Knowledge Required:

For the Pantry Program Assistant position:

• Ability to complete Food Safety training

• Organizational ability and attention to detail

• Comfort working with diverse groups

• The ability to balance taking the initiative with taking directions from staff

• Ability to lift and carry 20-30 pounds in pantry and food storage areas

• Knowledge or willingness to learn about multicultural foods, food inventory practices and trauma-informed guidelines for pantry operations.  

For the Student Engagement Assistant position:

• Ability to complete Food Safety training

• Organizational ability and attention to detail

• Comfort working with our diverse groups, including high school students

• Knowledge or willingness to learn about multicultural foods, menu planning and cooking techniques

• Knowledge or willingness to learn about different curriculum requirements for student service learning programs, including career-related learning experiences.

Preferred Skills: 

For both roles:

• Bilingual in one (or more) of these languages:  Spanish, Mandarin, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian. 

• Ability to use social media to communicate about Clay Street Table programs.

Onboarding and Training: Clay Street Table provides orientation and hands-on training.  Resources include regular meetings with Supervisors, a weekly all-staff meeting, and an introduction to our values-based leadership model. Required trainings include an online food safety training and a food justice training through our partner the Oregon Food Bank.

Benefits of these Positions: Both positions offer a rich, immersive experience in how to design and operate a community-led pantry and student-led student engagement program. SLS program participants can choose from a range of skills to learn and or further develop such as logistics and inventory management, food retailing, community engagement, trauma-informed practices for community-based organizations, volunteer management practices, and curriculum design for high school student service learning programs, to name a few examples.  We offer the opportunity to connect with our extensive network of agency partners and topic experts in a diverse range of fields, from non-profit management to education to social work to supply chain logistics to business management.

Supervision: The Pantry Program Assistant reports to Pantry Volunteer Coordinator, Kerry Driver. The Student Engagement Assistant reports to Director Paul Davis.

Location & Transportation: Clay Street Table is located at 1314 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 97201 and where we have our offices, meal preparation, and pantry facilities. Some time could also be spent in local parks and locations where we feed our houseless neighbors.

Clay Street Table is located downtown approximately 4 blocks from the PSU campus and is within short walking distance of many bus lines, and within 6-7 blocks of downtown MAX lines.

Schedule Available: Both positions require 4-6 hours per week. Most of the work would occur during Monday - Thursday primarily in the afternoons, sometimes until 6pm. Timing is somewhat flexible and we can work with specific schedules with advance notice. For the Student Engagement Assistant position, there may be a Sunday shift twice a month.