Before attempting to add a Pantry Member, you must first check to see if that member already exists as a Contact in your Unicentric system. This is a check enforced on the user after clicking the add contact button (displayed above).

On the resulting pop-up window, type the name of the person you are trying to add and click Search to display the results.

After the search is permitted, you will be presented with the results. If any records appear in the grid, check to see if they are the Contact you were trying to add. If so, you will not be able to continue with reviewing that contacts data and ensuring that it is up to date. Otherwise, you can click the Add New Contact button to continue with creating the entry for that pantry member. You can also attempt the search again if you are not sure you spelled their name correctly. 

After clicking Add New Contact, you will be presented with a screen where some demographic information can be filled out (although only First and Last name are required). After filling out the information to the best of your ability, click the Create button and the contact will be created in the system and you be presented with their Contact Screen.

This is a basic Contact Screen, your organization may be provided with a more customized contact screen depending on the nature of your system, but it will always contain basic demographic information and some other fields that are necessary for Pantry Members. 

Date of Birth - This field is needed for Pantry Members and should be the first field filled out. Once you enter the date of birth, the system will attempt to check all Unicentric pantries to see if the individual has used a pantry in our network before. If it finds anything, you will be able to pull their information to limit the data entry for your users. 

After you have filled out as much data as you can on the Contact Screen, you can use the button at the bottom of the screen to open up the MC Intake form. 

You should aim to fill out as much information on the Intake form as you can, but this guide will only cover some mandatory fields in order to keep the length brief.

Make Inactive - This field will cause the system to consider this pantry member inactive within the pantry. This will not be checked when adding a pantry to the system, but should be mentioned so that its function is known going forward.

Client's Date of Birth - Ideally, this field will already be filled out from the Contact Screen, but if you get to this stage and the field is still empty, it is necessary that it is populated. This will be the Pantry Member's password when attempting to log in to their side of the system to order from the Pantry.

Activity Code - This is the activity code that will be used on calendar items created for the member after they are checked out of Pantry Visit.

Program Code - This is the program code that will be used on calendar items created for the member after they are checked out of Pantry Visit.

Primary Language - This field will be used to set the default language when the Pantry Member attempts to order from the Pantry.

Pickup Day - This will determine when the system will schedule the members pick up days by default. Users can always authorize pantry members for emergency unscheduled pickups, but a regular schedule should still be established. If scheduled pick up days are not set, the system will not allow them to order on their own. Pickup schedules are defined by pantry maintenance users. 

Pantry Location - Here you will select the Pantry Site where the pantry member will pick up their orders. This will default to a pantry site in your system and cannot be blank. Some pantries may only have one option, others may have many. Always ensure that the correct site is selected.

Points (if using points system) - If your pantry is Points Enabled, you will be allowed to enter an override amount points allocated to this particular pantry member here. When establishing menus, the pantry admins will set a default amount of points, but this pantry member will always try to use the number entered here first.

Here you can add allergy concerns for the pantry member and their family. If an allergy concern is not found on the drop down list, it must be added by pantry maintenance so that it is known by the system. Note that the system will attempt to filter allergy concerns when this member is ordering from the pantry. 

This grid will allow you to add accepted certifications for the pantry member. If a certification does not appear on the drop down list, it must be added by pantry maintenance so that it is known by the system. Note that the system will attempt to filter food items without accepted certifications when the member is ordering from the pantry. If the pantry member is not concerned about a food items certifications, you can check the Accept All Certifications and the system will not filter the menu for those reasons. 

Other various information is captured by the system, including Emergency Contact information and an Alternate Pickup Individual (which may be the same person), and the dependents in the family. 

The only mandatory field left on this form is the Total Family Size. It will be used to determine point budget within certain food groups and allow them to get an appropriately sized order for their family. If this field is not filled out by the user, the system will attempt to calculate it by taking the total number of dependents recorded in the grid plus one (1) to account for the individual themselves, defaulting to one if no dependents have been recorded. 

The rest of the form attempts to capture financial information for reporting purposes. While as much information should be captured as possible to ensure the integrity of the reports within the system, these fields are not mandatory for the pantry member to place and receive orders.

After this information has been filled out you can save the form and the Pantry Member creation process will be complete.