We always look forward to the start of the fall season. Chapter events are in full swing, new officers will be installed (for some chapters), and new chapter goals are starting to take shape. One of your chapter goals may include increasing the number of volunteers within your chapter. To help our chapters achieve this goal or support them in their recruitment efforts, ANFP has created a new webpage for year-round volunteer recruitment. Learn about how this new feature can help bolster your volunteer numbers and increase engagement.

Opportunities to Volunteer Year-Round – Members can submit their name through an online form at any time, not just at the time a call for volunteers is open or at a live meeting. The prospective volunteer information is then sent to the chapter president to contact the prospect directly to start their volunteer journey right away.

Benefits of Volunteering – The new webpage includes the benefits of volunteering that were not always apparent to those that are new to volunteering. In addition to sharing your own stories, members can now learn the benefits that await them as a new volunteer.

Allows Prospective Volunteers to Choose – When a prospective volunteer completes the online chapter interest form, they can choose what role they’re interested in. While their role of choice may not be available at the time of their submission, chances are the chapter can find a spot for them that will allow them to eventually serve in the desired role and learn new skills while doing so. 

Includes National Call for Volunteers – Prospective volunteers can submit their names to volunteer at the chapter and National level. While the National Call for Volunteers does not officially open until October 1, any member interested in serving at the National level can submit their name and be added to a list to receive more information and the notification when it opens. In the meantime, prospective volunteers can get involved at the state level by completing the chapter interest form.

To view the new ANFP volunteer recruitment page, click here.

This month we are recognizing Paige Thibault, CDM, CFPP, of the South Carolina (SC) ANFP Chapter as the Volunteer of the Month.  

Paige Thibault first began her career as a dietary manager in Louisiana in 2011. Acting as both the kitchen manager and clinical director, she completed her certification to become a CDM, CFPP in 2013 and joined ANFP. Paige continued her career in Louisiana for three more years and was an active member of the Louisiana ANFP chapter during that time.

In 2016, Paige returned to South Carolina to be closer to her son and two grandchildren.  For the next seven years, she worked as an account manager in Anderson, South Carolina, specializing in clinical nutrition. During that time, she began volunteering with the SC ANFP chapter as president-elect. She continued to work her way up serving as vice president and now currently serving as the chapter president while working as the CDM, CFPP at Rolling Green Village.

As president, Paige is working on increasing engagement of members and building a more robust volunteer pool to carry the legacy of the SC ANFP chapter forward. 

Thank you, Paige for your continued hard work and enthusiasm for the SC ANFP chapter! Our chapters continue to thrive with leaders like you at the helm. Thank you!

We’d like to recognize you as our Volunteer of the Month. Please send your nominations to asolazzo@ANFPonline.org.

New this volunteer year, ANFP is offering chapter leaders/board members the opportunity to meet one-on-one virtually with ANFP staff and Chapter Leadership Team (CLT) members to learn more about how we can better support you as chapter leaders. We hope you’ll take advantage of this opportunity to help us learn how to provide better service, develop more and better resources and explore how we can continue to work together, as chapter and national, to improve the membership experience and increase awareness of ANFP and the CDM, CFPP credential. 

Each call will be approximately 1 hour and includes select ANFP staff as well as a member of the Chapter Leadership Team, along with any chapter leaders/board members your chapter deems necessary. 

At this time, each chapter president has received an email that contained a link to a survey, asking if the board would like to schedule a one-on-one call. We ask that each chapter president take some time to discuss this with your fellow board members if you have not done so already and then reply with your response via the survey or contact us at chapters@ANFPonline.org. If your chapter decides to opt-in to this offering, ANFP staff will contact all board members to determine a date and time for the call.  

If you have questions about this program, please contact Abigail Solazzo at asolazzo@ANFPonline.org.

Below are important requirements for the first rebate installment that are now past due.

• Submit bank statement for the month of April to ANFP Headquarters – Due May 31
• Officers entered in Chapter Portal for future volunteer year (Officers must be entered each year regardless of length of term.) – Due June 1
• Code of Conduct - Signed by Chapter President, President- Elect, Treasurer, Secretary   - Due June 1
• Affiliate Agreement – Reviewed, signed and submitted to National – Due June 15
• Submit end of the year financial statement by June 30 each year (for the previous fiscal year) to ANFP Headquarters - Due June 15
• Fall Meeting Dates - Due July 15
• 990 filed and E-receipt submitted - Due July 15

Learn more about becoming a Chapter Champion HERE.

August marks the start of the end of summer. Most of us are turning our attention to enjoying the last of the summer weather, getting kids (or ourselves) ready for school, and for us chapter leaders, gearing up for our fall meetings. Some of our chapters have gotten a great start to planning and others have finalized the agenda and confirmed their speakers. No matter where we are with the planning process, we are always looking for new ideas to infuse into our meetings. Below are some topics and networking ideas for your next meeting.

Special Interest Groups (SIG) Meet-ups – SIGs are a collective of members that have an area of practice, knowledge, or experience in common. Groups can include young or retired professionals, facility type, location (rural/urban) or staffing size. Give members the opportunity to meet and discuss the challenges they have in common as well as share solutions specific and relevant to their experience. BONUS: SIGs can continue their conversations after the meeting and stay connected throughout the year via email, text, video conference calls, or social media.

New Topics – We’re always looking to shake things up at our meetings and we can do so with some new and fresh topics. Some chapters may have already covered these areas, so consider building on them. Here are few ideas or topics to cover at your next meeting:

·       Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)

·       Self-care/Wellness

·       Storytelling session

·       “Shark Tank” style session

·       Self-branding/social media presence/networking skills

·       Guided networking

·       Technology (various skill level and topics) – Intro to ChatGP, mastering Excel, etc.

Special Events & Networking – Special events are a great way to infuse some fun into meetings. Consider hosting events before or after the meeting that are inclusive and encourage networking. Events such as:

·       Yoga or Group Walks/Runs

·       Tours of local culinary/foodservice facilities

·       Mini-sales meetings with vendors (like speed dating)

·       Group Game Night (Charades, Win, Lose or Draw, Bingo)

·       Community Service projects

If your chapter is planning something new and exciting, we encourage you to share your ideas with other chapters as we can all learn from one another. Join us for our monthly Leadership Happy Hour calls to share your ideas, get feedback and hear from other chapter leaders. Our next Happy Hour will take place on Monday, August 14, at 5:00 PM CT. Please contact us for call-in information at chapters@ANFPonline.org.

We’d like to recognize you as our Volunteer of the Month. Please send your nominations to asolazzo@ANFPonline.org.

It’s hard to believe, but it’s been less than two weeks since many of us were in New Orleans for ACE. It was great to see and connect with so many chapter leaders and members from across the country. Those that have had the opportunity to attend ACE know it offers many benefits for chapter leaders to recognize each other’s achievements, share our challenges (and solutions) and expand our network of dedicated volunteers. While each of our education sessions were an opportunity to learn industry related content, we had additional functions specifically dedicated to volunteers. Below are the highlights of volunteer-based events at ACE.  

Volunteer Luncheon – We kicked off ACE 2023 with our annual volunteer luncheon to honor volunteers and chapter leaders and recognize their achievements including chapter awards, consisting of the communications, government affairs, membership, and state achievement. We also recognized our Diamond award nominees and finalists during the celebratory luncheon. For a full list of chapter awards, see our next issue of Edge magazine.

Chapter Best Practices – Monday offered an additional interactive opportunity for chapter leaders to network and learn about new chapter best practices. Members of the Chapter Leadership Team (Ben McCullough – IA ANFP, Debbie McDonald – TX ANFP, Melissa Kern – WI ANFP and Toni Skaggs – WY ANFP) were panelists for the session. Each shared their chapter’s best practices on various topics including volunteer recruitment, knowledge management, embracing change and communication. Attendees also shared their own best practices with the audience, and during the roundtable portion of the session.

Honors Gala & Diamond Award – Our annual Honors Gala took place Monday evening, with a bit of twist. Attendees and guests were dressed to the nines accessorized with elegant masquerade masks while they enjoyed dinner and dancing. Our ACE awards recipients were honored during the gala including Chapter Volunteer of the Year Award honoree, Amarilys Saluk, CDM, CFPP from the Southern New England ANFP Chapter, Legacy Award honoree, Colleen Zenk, CDM, CFPP from the Minnesota ANFP Chapter and the Diamond Award winner, Georgia ANFP. To read more about our award winners, please see our next issue of Edge and the ANFP website.

New this volunteer year, ANFP is offering chapter leaders/board members the opportunity to meet one-on-one virtually with ANFP staff and Chapter Leadership Team (CLT) members to learn more about how we can better support you as chapter leaders. We hope you’ll take advantage of this opportunity to help us learn how to provide better service, develop more and better resources and explore how we can continue to work together, as chapter and national, to improve the membership experience and increase awareness of ANFP and the CDM, CFPP credential. 

Each call will be approximately 1 hour and includes select ANFP staff as well as a member of the Chapter Leadership Team, along with any chapter leaders/board members your chapter deems necessary. 

At this time, each chapter president has received an email that contained a link to a survey, asking if the board would like to schedule a one-on-one call. We ask that each chapter president take some time to discuss this with your fellow board members if you have not done so already and then reply with your response via the survey. If your chapter decides to opt-in to this offering, ANFP staff will contact all board members to determine a date and time for the call.  

If you have questions about this program, please contact Abigail Solazzo at asolazzo@ANFPonline.org.

This month we are honoring Adam Hagar, MBA, CEC, CWPC, CDM, CFPP, of the Ohio (OH) ANFP. Adam joined ANFP in 2008 after taking the Dietary Manager’s Certification program at Columbus State Community College, apprenticing at New Albany Gardens and Care Center with Don Damron, and successfully completing the CDM Credentialing Exam.

For Adam, volunteering is a way of giving back to those who have helped him through the years, serving in long and short-term roles and wherever assistance is needed either with ANFP or other organizations. He began volunteering with ANFP in 2021 as the chapter treasurer and is currently serving as the chapter president. As chapter president, he is focused on driving member engagement at the chapter level and introduced monthly, virtual education sessions for members as one way to increase this. Ohio members are offered monthly, free presentations where they can earn CE hours in sanitation or ethics as well as general hours.  With the assistance of the Chapter Secretary, they recruit speakers in various disciplines, or Adam presents the topic himself. These sessions take place online via Microsoft Teams around the 3^rd week of each month and are available to all OH ANFP members. In addition to the monthly sessions, Adam and his team digitized and centralized all past and current documents related to the chapter for a seamless transition for future leadership. Adam also serves on the Chapters Insights & Data Task Force that is taking a closer look at all areas related to ANFP chapters.

Outside of volunteering with ANFP, Adam has volunteered with Columbus ACF as the Dining Room Manager at the Columbus Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Clam Bake at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and provided training for displaced people, in food safety and basic kitchen fundamentals, to give them the skills they need to create a career in hospitality. He has also served as the Certification Chair for the Columbus ACF from 2012-2016. 

For the future of the OH ANFP chapter, Adam plans to revive the regular state conferences once again and give members a chance to get away from their day jobs and learn new and upcoming trends that they can then take back to their facilities. He also plans to continue to build relationships with vendors and speakers so the chapter can once again have the educational seminars they had pre-pandemic.    

Thank you, Adam for your hard work and service to ANFP and the OH chapter. Dedicated volunteers such as yourself ensure our chapters are stable and continue to benefit our members. We appreciate your volunteerism!

We’d like to recognize you as our Volunteer of the Month. Please send your nominations to asolazzo@ANFPonline.org.

Below are important requirements for the first rebate installment. Please note some items are now past due.

• Submit bank statement for the month of April to ANFP Headquarters – Due May 31 (Past Due)
• Officers entered in Chapter Portal for future volunteer year (Officers must be entered each year regardless of length of term.) – Due June 1 (Past Due)
•  Code of Conduct - Signed by Chapter President, President- Elect, Treasurer, Secretary   - Due June 1 (Past Due)
•  Affiliate Agreement – Reviewed, signed and submitted to National – Due June 15 (Past Due)
•  Submit end of the year financial statement by June 30 each year (for the previous fiscal year) to ANFP Headquarters - Due June 15 (Past Due)
•  Fall Meeting Dates - Due July 15
  
• 990 filed and E-receipt submitted - Due July 15

Learn more about becoming a Chapter Champion HERE.