Vacancy expired!
About this Project:
Don't Take That Receipt! is a public health and environmental justice group. Our mission is to educate vulnerable populations - those who work in stores, restaurants, and hospitals - and the general public, about the presence of bisphenol-A (BPA) and BPS in receipts and other thermal paper products. We provide businesses and the public with assistance for reducing exposure and creating store-wide changes that benefit the health of workers and customers.
BPA and BPS are used to coat thermal receipt paper and rub off onto skin with contact. Counterintuitively, using hand sanitizer increases the rate of absorption. BPA and BPS can interfere with hormonal regulation and are associated with nearly a dozen health problems; it's most harmful to women, pregnant women, teens, and kids. After creating a humorous video, educational website, and outreach campaign, we communicate about the dangers of these phenols through personal exchanges and through online social media, and promote behavioral and systemic change to create healthier communities. Our work is based in Holyoke, MA, - as well as the surrounding towns - and our goal is to work with populations that are most likely to have extensive exposure to these toxins while working low-paying retail, food service, and healthcare jobs.
About our Campaign this Summer:
This internship will run for 8 weeks in July and August 2019, based in Holyoke, MA. Our team of adults (staff and interns) and several paid high school aged youth will conduct visits with local restaurants, bodegas, supermarkets, and the like, to equip managers and cashiers with options for reducing their exposure to phenols from receipts. We also plan to meet with area libraries and hospitals, and hold business training events.
We will also spend parts of each week strategically sharing our funny 3 minute educational video, website, and petition campaign with targeted organizations and groups around the state and country via social media to reach an audience of tens of thousands. Interested applicants should watch our short video and look through our campaign website: www.bpa-free.me.
About this Position:
We are seeking one or more interns to work 12-30 hours a week for 8 weeks in July and August 2019. Our work hours will likely be Monday through Thursday, 10:30am to 4:30pm, though this might change. College students with funding from their schools or in need of an internship placement for a class are encouraged to apply. We may be able to compensate a college intern, pending grant funding. There may also be opportunities for continued paid involvement in the campaign beyond the summer for the right candidate.
Responsibilities:
Work along-side youth and adult staff to responsibly conduct in-person visits to local stores and restaurants to speak with cashiers and managers about phenols in receipts. The team will educate about these chemicals and provide an array of easy steps for reducing exposure and creating healthier protocols for their employees and customers.
Responsibly follow check lists, make detailed logs of store responses, set follow-up visits.
Be a friendly purveyor of accurate information and resources.
Co-mentor and co-supervise 2-3 high school aged youth as they also run this store to store outreach, making sure of their safety and conveying correct information.
Assist in the training of youth for this outreach work.
Help plan and evaluate this outreach, including making iterative changes throughout as we learn the most effective strategies for communicating about these health messages.
Online social media outreach: co-creating and following message -specific outreach through various social media platforms to strategically share our video, website, and corporate campaign petitions with relevant organizations and groups throughout the country.
Participate in daily and weekly check-in meetings in which we check in personally, discuss progress, forward plan, and troubleshoot any challenges.
Coordinate programming and resources for the team and for the youth staff.
About the Perfect Candidate:
You have a commitment to social, environmental, and/or health issues and are willing and wanting to work hard to get this important message out to as many people as possible.
You feel comfortable talking to new people and do so with a friendly and approachable demeanor.
You have experience and passion for working with and alongside youth.
You are skilled at using social media for online communications, and are strategic about distribution and outreach.
You take initiative, have great attention to detail, are an excellent writer, and work well independently and with others.
You are extremely reliable, and can be counted on to get the job done well.
You are creative but can also do the hard, often repetitive work required to get a message out to thousands of targeted groups, organizations, businesses, and the like.
You know how to take feedback, you can give candid feedback, are very organized, and work well within a team as well as independently
You have great computer skillsinternet, G-suite, email, Microsoft Word, basic Excel
You are bilingual (Spanish/English) not required, but a big asset.
Candidates of color are strongly encouraged to apply, as well as candidates from Holyoke. Please email a cover letter and resume. Thank you for your interest!
