Food Order Forms Submission Ideas:

My wife is the RS President (which by default makes me the 'Aide de Camp for the RS President') and every other week 'we' submit numerous food orders (I'm the Ward Finance Clerk so every month I see everyone's food order anyway when I review expenses for the Ward). We are trying to streamline the process and a big part of that is moving away from receiving receiving numerous food orders via text and then inputting them on a computer. Even after sending out .PDF soft copies and asking members receiving food to pick up the current form we are running into issues like: 1. People using old forms and requesting things not on the current form; 2. People upset that they can't order something only to find out it was added on the current form; 3. People filling out the form or hand-writing a list illegibly; 4. People typing a list of things and asking for something like 'chicken' which could mean one of multiple things; 5. People filling out the form/list and sending unreadable/incomplete photos; and so on.

So I have some suggestions (some of which may have answers already but I haven't seen them):

1. Develop a way for member's to input their own food orders. The form would look to them just like it does to the RS President but would pre-fill in their information and have a "Comments to Reviewer" section where the person can explain any anomalies in the order (if applicable). When the member submits their food order form it goes to the RS President for review where adjustments can be made (we had someone try to order 14 pounds of oranges this week for a household of 1...they aren't going to get 14 pounds of oranges but they are going to get a bag of oranges). Once the RS President is good with the form, she hits a button that 'solidifies' the food order (as it currently works) and submits to the bishop for approval. If the member is not authorized food orders it would be best if the system would stop it before it got to the RS President (maybe the RS President or Bishop have an option to turn this on/off for members in LCR), but the RS President could easily delete it in the pipeline.

2. Have the church release a fillable PDF form with each food update. The form can be sent out to members who fill it out and send it back. Not as easy as above, but definitely fixes a lot of the problems we see.

I couldn't find specifics in the General Handbook, but according to Bishop’s Orders: QuickStart Guide, the normal process is for the "preparer" (usually a member of the bishopric, the Relief Society president, or the elders quorum president) to visit and work with the person requesting help to assess the needs and prepare an order together. In practice, there may be situations that make this difficult, but because it's not standard practice for the members requesting assistance to fill out the form independently, it's unlikely for Church tools to support it.

tonynocchi wrote: Sat May 04, 2024 6:32 am My wife is the RS President (which by default makes me the 'Aide de Camp for the RS President') and every other week 'we' submit numerous food orders (I'm the Ward Finance Clerk so every month I see everyone's food order anyway when I review expenses for the Ward). We are trying to streamline the process and a big part of that is moving away from receiving receiving numerous food orders via text and then inputting them on a computer. Even after sending out .PDF soft copies and asking members receiving food to pick up the current form we are running into issues like: 1. People using old forms and requesting things not on the current form; 2. People upset that they can't order something only to find out it was added on the current form; 3. People filling out the form or hand-writing a list illegibly; 4. People typing a list of things and asking for something like 'chicken' which could mean one of multiple things; 5. People filling out the form/list and sending unreadable/incomplete photos; and so on.

So I have some suggestions (some of which may have answers already but I haven't seen them):

1. Develop a way for member's to input their own food orders. The form would look to them just like it does to the RS President but would pre-fill in their information and have a "Comments to Reviewer" section where the person can explain any anomalies in the order (if applicable). When the member submits their food order form it goes to the RS President for review where adjustments can be made (we had someone try to order 14 pounds of oranges this week for a household of 1...they aren't going to get 14 pounds of oranges but they are going to get a bag of oranges). Once the RS President is good with the form, she hits a button that 'solidifies' the food order (as it currently works) and submits to the bishop for approval. If the member is not authorized food orders it would be best if the system would stop it before it got to the RS President (maybe the RS President or Bishop have an option to turn this on/off for members in LCR), but the RS President could easily delete it in the pipeline.

Has the RS tried to utilize additional "Preparers"? The Welfare Resources Website Frequently Asked Questions outlines the process for adding additional preparers. Without knowing details, it seems like if you have a large number of recurring food orders, then adding in additional resources would offload this not only from the RS President, but potentially also from her counselors. And seems like an ideal role for a ministering sister. If the RS President hasn't discussed this option with the Bishop (who is the only one who can add additional preparers), that would likely be a good first step.

tonynocchi wrote: Sat May 04, 2024 6:32 am2. Have the church release a fillable PDF form with each food update. The form can be sent out to members who fill it out and send it back. Not as easy as above, but definitely fixes a lot of the problems we see.

The "PRINTING AN ORDER FORM" section of the Guide to the Ordering Process shows a way to get a personalized pdf printout for a specific individual/family. Is that what you're thinking about? If you are talking about an electronic pdf that people can fill out online, as mentioned it seems unlikely the Church would provide tools for that.