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.
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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.
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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!
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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
October news at the Co-op
October is typically Co-op month, to highlight how differently cooperatives do business. But instead of talking about the 7 Cooperative Principles, or the ownership benefits of being part of the Co-op, we only need to look at the past four weeks to see what being a cooperative really means.
As part of the co-op family, you've helped the entire community immensely.
Lecture recording: "Nutrition for autism and related conditions"
Lisa Shelton, BioIndividual Nutrition Practitioner & Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, put together this recording to discuss nutrition for autism and related conditions including, ADHD, anxiety, and learning disorders as well as strategies for picky eating.
Click here to watch the lecture at your convenience.
Password: p!=Fw6R7
Support Co-op staff to rebuild
The Ashland Food Co-op is dedicated to helping our community and our staff rebuild after the Almeda Fires in early September.
For immediate support, the Co-op gave $1,000 to staff who lost their homes in the fires, as well as $250 for food and other household needs for anyone displaced due to a level 3 evacuation order.
Change for Good in September: Southern Oregon Land Conservancy
For the month of September, Ashland Food Co-op shoppers can round up at the register to support Southern Oregon Land Conservancy. Since 1973, SOLC has been working on multiple fronts to improve land quality and conservation for humans and nature alike. Check out some of the projects below that SOLC has been working on recently. And mark your calendar for Saturday, October 24, as SOLC hosts an Open Lands Day hike and tour on the Rogue River Preserve.
Free Monday Night Lecture - Some Cool Science about Breathing
Join Kelly Martin as she explains how your breath impacts everything from ankle sprains to headaches. Learn why belly breathing isn't good for you, how to breathe correctly, and how to maximize lung health, improve posture, enhance walking efficiency, reduce anxiety, and improve sports performance.
Access the Zoom recording here.
Zoom access password: 2zu@KQWU
Chatting about community giving with JPR's "Jefferson Exchange"
Recently, Julie O'Dwyer, Ashland Food Co-op board vice-president, joined a panel of guests on Jefferson Public Radio's "Jefferson Exchange" to discuss how the pandemic has led to an even greater need for community giving and support of local non-profits.
Change for Good in August: KS Wild
This month's featured organization in the new Change for Good register round-up program is KS Wild (short for Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center).
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Get to know Ashland Emergency Food Bank
The sixth cooperative principle, "Concern for Community," has become even more important since the pandemic began and economies, locally and globally, started to constrict. To address this, the Board of Directors agreed in April to release 100% of patronage dividends and designate Ashland Emergency Food Bank as a donation option for those dividends - resulting in over $20,000 in donations. And with the early launch of Change for Good register round-up, AEFB was a natural choice to receive round-up donations.
July / August GM Update: Walking the Walk
I wrote at the beginning of the year that the Co-op model of business was a blueprint for the future. The concept of “planet, principles and people before profit” is a guide for how cooperatives can run a successful business that puts more back into the community and local economy than national chains, while using less resources and creating less waste.
2020 Co-op Election Results
2020 Co-op Election Results
Ashland Food Co-op owners voted for three open seats on the Board of Directors, and for ten non-profit organizations for the Change for Good register round-up program.
Click a name below to read more about that Co-op Board member.
A statement from the Board of Directors on racial justice
Dear Ashland Food Cooperative Family and Community,
Co-op Owners Step-Up to Support the Ashland Emergency Food Bank!
AFC and AEFB Press Release - Local Strength!
Release Date: 5-26-2020
In April, the Ashland Food Co-op Board of Directors announced to the community that the Co-op would be returning 100% of the 2019 Patronage Dividend to its owners. The 100% Patronage Dividend return to Co-op owners converted to over $628,000.
The Co-op Board felt in this time of great need it was not the right time for the Co-op to put away funds for the future, but rather to support owners fully so they may have more strength to weather these stormy times.
Free Monday Night Lectures - virtual and recorded
Thanks to the many agile and adaptable experts in the Rogue Valley, the much-loved Free Monday Night Lectures live on - even if everything is moving online.
While we miss seeing community members with a joy of learning showing up at the Co-op Classroom, we hope these recordings teach and inspire you.
An update on Strategic Energy Management at the Co-op
By Nina Friedman, Strategic Energy Management intern