February Change for Good Recipient: Ashland High Arts Advocates

 

February's Change for Good Recipient is

Ashland High Arts Advocates (AHAA),

a volunteer-led non-profit which advocates and raises funds to support Ashland, Oregon area public schools arts programs, teachers and students. Through annual fundraisers, AHAA funds summer programs, teacher grants, guest artists, needed equipment, and organizes the largest annual youth showcase in the region, the Winter Fine Arts Festival. Each year, AHAA provides thousands of dollars in summer arts scholarships to students, as well as annual operational grants to teachers.

This Change for Good month's funds will go directly to Jake Taub's Culinary Arts Program at Ashland High School.

AHAA at AFC

AHS offers six Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management courses as well as additional internships for students in grades 9-12. In each of their courses, students have the opportunity to earn free or discounted credit at Klamath Community College, Lane Community College, or from SOU's Hospitality and Tourism program. 

Culinary Arts Program students earn the knowledge and skills to cook for themselves and make informed decisions about the sourcing of ingredients within the introduction classes.. Students may carry on to our advanced classes and learn relevant industry skills that allow them to enter the workforce immediately after high school or while pursuing a post-secondary education.

AHAA at AFC

The program caters many events for local organizations. Some of the organizations they have worked with in the past are: The SOU School of Education, SOU’s Best of the Best Art Show, The Ashland Independent Film Festival, The Hearth, and Jackson County Public Health.

For the past five years, these Culinary Arts and Hospitality students have consistently placed in the top two positions in our regional high-school competition at the Ashland Culinary Festival!

AHAA at AFC

Jake Taub and his Culinary Arts Program are presently working with students in our design and manufacturing programs to modify an old school bus into their very own food truck in order to further the opportunities to give students hands-on experiences serving our community. They're hoping to finish this project by the end of the 2021-2022 school year.

 

Support Ashland High Arts Advocates (AHAA) when you round up your purchase at the register throughout the month of February!

 

To learn more about this organization or learn about volunteering, click here to visit their website.

 

 

What is Change for Good?
The AFC Gives committee focuses on ways that the Co-op community can support local organizations and groups doing important work in the Rogue Valley.

2020 is the first year of Change for Good, a register round-up program to benefit a slate of ten organizations, voted on by Co-op owners, through the cumulative donations of shoppers choosing to round-up their shopping total to the nearest dollar.

From one cent to 99 cents, it all adds up to feeling good about supporting the community.

More Co-op News

The Role of the Board in Co-op Governance

By Gwyneth Bowman, Vice President

After serving on the AFC Board for fourteen years my passion for the Co-op model has strengthened my commitment to the Cooperative Principles and Values. Of special importance is how we work together as a governing body with one voice. We are the ultimate decision-makers of our Co-op and hold a trusteeship for the benefit of our owners and community.

Fall Favorites from the Co-op

Like it or not, the cool weather has arrived. Whether you are heading out for a hike or enjoying a good book by the fire, the Co-op Deli has what you need to fuel your favorite fall activity. Stay warm with these comfort food recommendations from the Co-op Deli.
 

From the General Manager's Desk

By Emile Amarotico

A recent visitor commented that our parking is totally inadequate to our business volume. What’s true is that we cannot create more parking due to space and municipal code constraints. Thus, the value of each available space is increasing over time. Assuming only half of Co-op shoppers use automobile parking, each space supports at least $200,000 in annual sales.

Meet Board of Director Julie O'Dwyer

When not working on Board of Director efforts, my profession is an Interior and Building Designer. I own the Ashland Design Studio, located in the Historic Railroad District, and have a design services studio there - JulieO Design. I have been in the architectural design business my whole life; from crawling around my father's architectural studio to traveling around the world working on buildings large and small to now having created my own niche in the local building community. I took a few years off this path to own and run Tease Restaurant here in Ashland.

Nourish Your Family and Fight Hunger

The holiday season is upon us. Amidst the shopping frenzies, family gatherings, and parties it can be hard to remember this is also a season of giving. That’s why we want to make it easy for you to give back. So easy that it’s as simple as doing your everyday grocery shopping. You can nourish your own family and help fight hunger in the Rogue Valley.

For the month of November, we are once again teaming up with Smart Chicken® for the Smart Chicken® Smart Giving program.

Here’s how it works.

5 Reasons to Love Co-ops

By Laura Pfister, Media Coordinator

October is National Co-op Month, so what’s the big deal? Being a co-op is special. Yes, we know we are biased, but being a cooperative enterprise means we do business differently. We don’t have a single owner living on their private island drinking margaritas all day without a care in the world. We are owned and governed by you, our 10,000 members. We share the burden in hard times and share the benefits in the good times. We put people, the planet and our principles before profit.

From the General Manager's Desk

By Emile Armarotico

This spring, National Co-op Grocers recognized Ashland Food Co-op as a Co+efficient Sustainability Star for our excellent sustainability efforts.

Our Sustainability Vision aims at being carbon neutral by 2030. We’ve taken a great stride toward this by installing a 39 kilowatt solar electric system on our rooftop with the capacity to generate approximately 7% of our electricity usage. The cost was partially offset by a $27,000 REAP (Rural Energy for America Program) Grant.

Local Starts at the Co-op

When we say local, we mean local. We source our local goods from within 200 miles of the store. By purchasing goods from local producers, we aim to create and maintain a healthy local economy and support family farms. What could be better than helping your community by buying local goods?

With all the local products that we offer, it’s hard to pick a favorite. But that’s exactly what we asked our staff to do. Here are some of their go-to local eats.

Your Fruit. Your Cider.

How often can you browse the shelf at your neighborhood grocery store, see a bottle of hand crafted, local cider and say, “Hey, I help make that!” Well, at the Co-op you can.

Millions of Peaches, Peaches for Me

By Laura Pfister, Media Coordinator

Many of us wait all year for this moment. We spend the winter months dreaming of a certain fuzzy stone fruit, its sweet juices dripping from our face and the buttery golden pie crust those yellow-orange slices will inhabit.

Good news! The wait is over. That local, sweet orb of sunshine has finally arrived. That’s right. Rolling Hills peaches are here!

2017 Board Election Results

The Ashland Food Co-op Board of Directors is pleased to announce the results of the 2017 Board Election. There were five excellent candidates running for three Board positions. In total, 733 votes were cast, representing 9% of owners. 
 
Congratulations to the following candidates who will serve three-year terms on the Ashland Food Co-op Board of Directors.

We're Sustainability Stars!

Deep in our hearts we've always known we were sustainability stars, but now we have an award to prove it.

We recently received a Co+efficient Sustainability Star award from National Co-op Grocers (NCG) recognizing our positive environmental and community impacts.

Co+efficient, NCG’s sustainability program, measures social, environmental and local economic impacts from participating food co-ops across the country.

Give Where You Live

It’s the most wonderful time of year! Yes, we know that phrase is generally reserved for the holiday season. But for us, this truly is the most wonderful time of the year. It’s OUR season of giving.

Dine In and Bike Your Way to Savings

Did you know that approximately half of our landfill waste stream is composed of Deli trash? A significant part of that is “to-go” containers, which are sometimes used for dining in and don’t end up “going” very far at all.

Sustainability matters in everyday actions and we want you, our customers, to help us reduce unnecessary waste and make the most ecologically sound choices possible.

Participate in YOUR Co-op!

Meet Your Candidates
The Co-op Board is pleased to announce that we have 5 candidates for 3 open seats in the 2017 Board Election!
 
Join us for a social "