The Maryland Food Co-op, in accordance to its purpose of providing affordable and healthy food to the people, has since 1975 maintained compensated volunteer opportunities- so that people can have the option of subsidizing their food purchases by helping out the store. Volunteers recieve $5.50 worth of food credit each hour, and their time is rounded down to the nearest quarter of an hour. Furthermore, after every hour, a volunteer must see a paid worker to continue to recieve food credit. This is to ensure that as many people as possible can benefit from our policy and get fed. Food credit has no monetary value, and can not be exchanged for money.
Volunteering can be done anytime a paid worker approves, but there will be times when people will have to be turned away because of the number of people volunteering at the time, or if there simply isn't enough work to be done at the time. This is done on a first-come, first-served basis. We will do our best to accomodate disabled volunteers, as we have done and will continue to do.
There is also the option in becoming a super-volunteer. This is a status which requires a majority approval of the collective every semester. They recieve $7.00 worth of credit per hour, but must schedule five hours each week. Super-volunteers are expected to be skilled in the operation of the store, able to work with everyone, and responsible. Additionally, they must attend at least one co-op meeting every 4 weeks. After learning the skills as a volunteer, you can apply to become a supervolunteer!