Laura Thomson

Hardworking professional with a focus on events and volunteer experience. Authorized to work in the US for any employer.

Volunteer Events Coordinator - Food Share of Ventura County

(2024-01)

• Responsible for overseeing food distribution serving over one thousand families.
• Overseeing and fostering a positive volunteer experience
• Assisting with Food Share events
• Coordinating bread route volunteers
• Overseeing our food drive program
• Active member of the safety committee

Safety and Facility Manager - Food Share of Ventura County - Oxnard, CA

(2019-06 - 2024-01)

• Responsible for maintaining a food safe environment
• Assess our facilities needs on a daily basis and discuss with management team
• Oversee several programs such as rescue food sorting, disaster box packing, kitchen free.
• Assist in facilitating the distribution of food to our community
• Maintaining our facility to AIB standards at all times
• Writing SOP's, IIPP, COVID prevention, fire and earthquake safety
• Work with development on events i.e. Can-Tree, Blue Jean Ball, Food for Thought, Can Tree Award ceremony, FED UP Gala, Tacos and Tequila, assist with health permits for events.
• Work with the EEC to keep up staff morale
• Oversee a team of four employees and potentially more.
• Work with vendors to maintain our facility
• Facilitate acquiring varying permits for the organization
• Work regularly with volunteers

Sales Associate - The Cave - Ventura, CA

(2018-11)

• Assess customer's needs and provide assistance and information about the product.
• Comply with inventory control procedures.
• Cross sell products in other departments.
• Maintain in-stock supply and merchandise products on the sales floor.
• Ensure high levels of customer satisfaction by delivering excellent sales and service.
• Remain knowledgeable of product line features.

Hostess/server - The Cave - Ventura, CA

(2018-11 - 2020-06)

• Assisted clients in understanding their available options and helped them select the right option for the best experience with wine tasting options
• Accepted and processed customer payments in cash, credit cards, gift certificate and member only payment options, checking for validity.
• Acknowledged customer issues and resolved their problems quickly and efficiently.
• Collaborated with the kitchen staff to ensure timely and accurate delivery of all food.
• Coordinated with other restaurant staff for larger parties, setup, food delivery, wine service.
• Constant communication with team members to expedite clearing and resetting of tables in order to quickly seat waiting guests.

Banquet Captain - Hilton - Santa Barbara, CA

(2015-11 - 2018-06)

• Acknowledged customer issues and resolved their problems quickly and efficiently.
• Assisted clients in the setup of events
• Oversaw the setup, execution of event and breakdown of all bars for events on property, up to 8 at a time.
• Assisted other Captains in setup, execution and breakdown of entire events. Anywhere from 10 to 1000 guests at a time.
• Evaluated the customers' needs and provided service options to meet their requirements.
• Created inventory control for both daily functions as well as monthly inventory.
• All product ordering needed for the bar portion of each event.
• Hiring, scheduling, training, and discipline of all bar staff in the events department.
• Collaborated with sales department to plan, develop and implement every detail of the contract for an event.
• Created and executed specialty cocktails designed for individual events.

Therapeutic Staff Support - Youth Advocate Program - Milford, PA

(2013-02 - 2015-09)

• Assisted client in school according to the IEP
• Assisted client in developing social skills in school
• Communicated with school staff in regards to clients behavior and progress
• Kept detailed daily logs recording clients behavior and responses to stimuli
• Followed all protocol regarding HIPPA

Assistant Manager/bartender - Glass Wine Bar and Kitchen - Hawley, PA

(2011-06 - 2014-07)

• Accepted and processed customer payments in cash, credit cards and checks, checking for validity.
• Acknowledged customer issues and resolved their problems quickly and efficiently.
• Hiring, training and discipline of floor and bar staff.
• Weekly product orders for spirits, wine, beer, bar product.
• Processing all receipts and balancing the POS and credit card systems at the close of business each day.
• Provided excellent customer service to both local guests as well as the many out of town guests.
• Assisted guests in the execution of weddings and like events at the property.
• Created, executed and maintained daily and weekly cleaning tasks.

BS - Criminal Justice in Paralegal Studies - Oxnard College (2020-06)

Kaplan University Remote Learning (2012-06)