Community Engagement Intern

Community Engagement Intern

Organization: Loaves & Fishes
Location: Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Hours: 15–20 hours per week
Schedule: Flexible; some evening or weekend community events may be included
Reports to: Community Engagement Coordinator

About Loaves & Fishes

Loaves & Fishes is a Minnesota-based nonprofit working to provide healthy meals to Minnesotans in areas where the need is greatest. For more than 40 years, we have brought together volunteers, community organizations, businesses, food partners, and supporters to address food insecurity across the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota.

Volunteers are central to our work, and we are looking for a motivated student to help us expand our reach, strengthen community relationships, and connect more people with opportunities to get involved.

About the Internship

The Community Engagement & Volunteer Outreach Intern will work alongside our Community Engagement Coordinator to help grow volunteer participation and increase awareness of Loaves & Fishes programs throughout the community.

This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys meeting people, building relationships, communicating a mission, and turning community interest into action. You will gain experience across community engagement, volunteer recruitment, outreach, event marketing, nonprofit operations, and relationship management.

Rather than spending the semester on a single project, you will become part of the day-to-day work of engaging the community and helping maintain a strong pipeline of volunteers and community partners.

What You'll Do

• Represent Loaves & Fishes at community events, volunteer fairs, college events, corporate engagement opportunities, and other outreach activities.
• Help identify and recruit prospective volunteers, including students, businesses, community groups, faith communities, service organizations, and other partners.
• Conduct outreach to organizations and groups that may be interested in volunteering or partnering with Loaves & Fishes.
• Help turn initial interest into volunteer participation through timely follow-up, communication, and coordination.
• Work alongside the Community Engagement Coordinator to maintain a consistent flow of volunteers across Loaves & Fishes programs and opportunities.
• Help promote volunteer opportunities and programs through email, digital outreach, presentations, flyers, and other communications.
• Assist with planning and coordinating volunteer recruitment initiatives, community events, and outreach campaigns.
• Develop and maintain lists of prospective community, corporate, campus, and organizational partners.
• Help communicate the Loaves & Fishes mission and impact in a compelling, accessible way to different audiences.
• Gather feedback and insights from volunteers and community partners to help improve the volunteer experience.
• Support other community engagement and volunteer initiatives based on organizational needs and the intern's interests.

What We're Looking For

We are less concerned about your specific major than we are about your ability to communicate, take initiative, and connect with people.

This internship could be a strong fit for students studying marketing, communications, public relations, business, nonprofit management, social work/social services, sociology, public affairs, community development, or related fields.

Strong candidates will:

• Be comfortable starting conversations and building relationships with new people.
• Have strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Be organized and able to follow through on outreach and commitments.
• Bring a positive, professional presence when representing Loaves & Fishes in the community.
• Be curious, proactive, and willing to take ownership of projects.
• Be interested in community engagement, food access, volunteerism, or nonprofit work.
• Be comfortable working both independently and collaboratively.

Previous nonprofit or volunteer experience is helpful but not required.

What You'll Gain

This internship is designed to provide meaningful professional experience—not just administrative work. You will have the opportunity to:

• Build real-world experience in community outreach, marketing, communications, and relationship development.
• Develop professional communication and networking skills.
• Learn how a large community-based nonprofit recruits and engages volunteers.
• Gain experience representing an organization publicly at events and meetings.
• Build relationships with nonprofit, corporate, university, and community partners.
• See firsthand how community engagement supports the operations and growth of a mission-driven organization.
• Take ownership of projects and leave the internship with tangible examples of your work and impact.

Schedule

This position is approximately 15–20 hours per week. We can provide flexibility around class schedules. Because community engagement sometimes happens outside traditional business hours, occasional evening or weekend availability for events may be requested with advance notice.

Who Should Apply

You do not need to know exactly what you want to do after graduation. This is a good opportunity for someone who wants practical experience working with people, building community partnerships, promoting a mission, and seeing how communications, relationship-building, and nonprofit operations come together.

If you are outgoing, organized, motivated, and interested in doing work that has a visible impact in your community, we would love to hear from you!