Starting Semester: Fall 2024 Assigned: No Location: Norcross
Neighborhood Cooperative Ministries
Client Profile
Neighborhood Cooperative Ministries (NCM) is a faith-based nonprofit dedicated to providing emergency assistance to families in Norcross, Peachtree Corners, Doraville and Tucker, Georgia of Gwinnett County. For 35 years, NCM has served in one of the highest areas of need in Gwinnett County providing services including direct financial assistance (rent and utilities), food, clothing, medical assistance and various personal empowerment programs. NCM serves over 25,000 individuals annually in an area where 11,000 children face food insecurity and 15,000 families within 5 miles face a housing cost burden.
Project Description
NCM plans to double the organization's output of food distributed to families in need over a 12 month period by implementation of a food recovery program designed to increase the amount of fresh meat and produce donations acquired from food distributors (120 billion pounds of food are wasted in the US each year). The organization has potential donors lined up to donate thousands of pounds of food (potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds), but lacks a documented plan to scale effectively. We would like a senior design team to document current state food processes, procedures, workflow, volume information and inventory approach; determine required capacity and throughput requirements; design and implement new processes for storage and managing inventory including new potential technology needs; evaluate potential need for additional storage capacity as volume increases (NCM plans to continue to scale the food program to over 1 million pounds distributed annually very reachable within 1-2 years).
Skills
Process improvement, technology integration, data analysis, workflow improvement, warehouse/inventory management systems and processes, knowledge of nonprofit organizations and food safety (nice to have but not a requirements)
