Joel Sandler began volunteering with Food For All in the spring of 2003. At that time, the organization was delivering between 20 – 30 boxes of food weekly to needy clients. The addresses were maintained on hand-written lists, and simply keeping track of the weekly clients was a manual chore. Another motivated volunter, Yi-Ren Tzeung, built the first client database around that time, which allowed FFA’s client list and overall efficiency to grow steadily. Within a few years, the database was due for a remodel, and Joel applied himself to designing the system currently in use, which keeps track of nearly one thousand clients, one thousand potential volunteers and a weekly delivery load of up to 100 boxes.
Joel is most proud of the feature which puts all of the week’s deliveries onto one map for the purpose of creating efficient delivery routes for the volunteers. This is a critical tool for our coordinators, due to the fact that DC’s quadrant-based system allows for 4 entirely different locations to be addressed as “400 K St.” After learning from two previous coordinators, Joel took over the responsibility of coordinating Saturday morning deliveries in 2004, and continued in that role until May of 2007 when he moved to Los Angeles.
Joel continues to help out with maintenance and enhancement of the client and volunteer database systems. Joel spends his days working at a law firm managing technology projects for a variety of legal practices, including litigation, regulatory matters, health care and intellectual property matters. In fact, the law firm connection was a great source of empty paper boxes for the food pantry for many years. He spends his weekends hiking and backpacking the deserts and mountains of California, with a special affinity towards Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.
Joel Sandler – IT Coordinator
Joel Sandler began volunteering with Food For All in the spring of 2003. At that time, the organization was delivering between 20 – 30 boxes of food weekly to needy clients. The addresses were maintained on hand-written lists, and simply keeping track of the weekly clients was a manual chore. Another motivated volunter, Yi-Ren Tzeung, built the first client database around that time, which allowed FFA’s client list and overall efficiency to grow steadily. Within a few years, the database was due for a remodel, and Joel applied himself to designing the system currently in use, which keeps track of nearly one thousand clients, one thousand potential volunteers and a weekly delivery load of up to 100 boxes.
Joel is most proud of the feature which puts all of the week’s deliveries onto one map for the purpose of creating efficient delivery routes for the volunteers. This is a critical tool for our coordinators, due to the fact that DC’s quadrant-based system allows for 4 entirely different locations to be addressed as “400 K St.” After learning from two previous coordinators, Joel took over the responsibility of coordinating Saturday morning deliveries in 2004, and continued in that role until May of 2007 when he moved to Los Angeles.
Joel continues to help out with maintenance and enhancement of the client and volunteer database systems. Joel spends his days working at a law firm managing technology projects for a variety of legal practices, including litigation, regulatory matters, health care and intellectual property matters. In fact, the law firm connection was a great source of empty paper boxes for the food pantry for many years. He spends his weekends hiking and backpacking the deserts and mountains of California, with a special affinity towards Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.